BMA Clondalkin enjoyed a hugely successful outing at the newly named TMA Kickboxing International Open, held in the state-of-the-art Sport Ireland Indoor Arena on Sunday, 1st March.

Previously known as the TMA New Year’s Open, the prestigious event, hosted by Tallaght Martial Arts, based in Tallaght Stadium, is widely regarded as one of Ireland’s top national kickboxing tournaments. This year’s upgraded edition, staged at the world-class Sport Ireland Campus, attracted approximately 500 registrations from clubs across the country.

BMA Clondalkin fielded a strong team of 11 athletes, including several first-time competitors, and finished the day with an outstanding medal haul of 2 gold, 4 silver and 12 bronze medals.

Among those making their competitive debut were siblings Rayan (7) and Eve (9), who stepped onto the mats for the very first time in the novice Points Fighting (PF) categories (Under 7 and Under 9 respectively). Showing remarkable composure and confidence, both young athletes fought fearlessly and earned a bronze medal each.

Corie Kelly made an excellent start to his competitive journey, claiming silver in the Under 15 novice Light Contact (LC) division and also competing strongly in Kick Light (KL). Another promising young fighter making his mark early.

Kamil Sobon, also competing for the first time, impressed throughout the day, reaching the final of the Boys Under 15 novice PF division and narrowly missing out on gold in his debut appearance.

Robert Dryja secured two bronze medals in the Boys Advanced Under 10 PF and LC divisions, while older brother Arthur was unfortunate not to reach the podium on this occasion.

Ben Reid continues to show steady improvement, with his hard work in training translating into bronze medals in both the Under 15 Advanced PF and KL divisions.

Jamie Hawkins is making significant progress since stepping into the advanced categories, reaching the finals of both the Under 9 PF and LC divisions and taking home two silver medals.

Matthew Devlin narrowly missed out on a podium finish in the Under 13 intermediate LC division, falling short by just a couple of points in a closely contested bout.

Clondalkin’s multi-champion Louise Shortt once again demonstrated her class, claiming gold in the Under 15 Advanced PF division and adding a bronze medal in the Junior -60kg category.

Anthony Hollywood Jnr marked his return to competition after a short break with a strong performance, showing no signs of ring rust and earning a well-deserved bronze medal in the Boys Intermediate Under 9 LC division.

Fionn Kelly took on a strong challenger from Wexford in the Men’s -84kg Kick Light division. In a highly competitive semi-final contest, Fionn left his charge late and narrowly missed out by just a couple of points, despite finishing the round strongly.

In the Masters categories, Jen Molloy and Ciara Douglas led from the front. Jen captured gold in the Ladies +60kg Masters LC division and bronze in the +60kg PF category, while Ciara secured bronze in the Masters -60kg PF division.

Head Coach Ilija Salerno expressed his pride in the team’s efforts:

“I’m super proud of all our fighters today. The growth of our novices coming through onto the competitive circuit is brilliant to see. Their hard work in class is paying off, and the future is very bright for BMA Clondalkin.”