The largest open martial arts tournament in the world today was the destination for 4 fighters from the Grimsby strike team over the weekend of "28th February and 1st March. The Irish open in Saggart, Dublin plays host to over 3,300 fighters from 36 countries and full of talented competitors from all over the world all hoping to get on that podium!
Daniel Balch, 15 years old stepped up into the adults category for light continuous at –57kg on Saturday and performed extremely well against older competitors. Daniel battled his way through the first round against an Italian fighter and used his movement skills to land clean shots in order to get him the win over 2 rounds. He met an older more experienced fighter from Spain in the semi finals who when pressured by Daniel started backing off but his legs were like elastic and came up very quickly to gain head shots. After 2 rounds the judges gave the win to the Spanish fighter although another 30 seconds and Daniel may have clinched it as he was racking up the points near the end. Daniel managed to gain Bronze in this category which was well deserved.
On Sunday Daniel also fought in the point fighting categories –52kg and –57kg. Daniel used his skills very well to score points on his opponents and he also gained some vital experience getting through some of the worlds top fighters all the way to the quarter finals where he met the eventual winner of the category. It was a close match with some very fast techniques from both fighters, Daniel just missed out on the win.
Jessica Ward, 14 years old returned to the Irish open for the second time in her fighting career and was geared up for a place on the podium in the -55kg. Battling her way through the first round after one fighter never showed up she found herself in the semi final. She was blitzing in very well and scoring points all over the place. Her opponent kept coming in with a side kick which was catching Jessica a lot. She managed to score some clean reverse punches at the end of the fight and was winning by one point with 5 seconds to go when her opponent pushed her back onto the edge of the area and just scored a kick to take the match into extra time. Jessica fought really well narrowly missing out on a win in extra time against her opponent but came away with a very well deserved bronze medal! Jessica also stepped up a category and fought in the advanced –55kg point fighting category where she learned valuable experience against a German fighter who was more seasoned than Jessica, a good learning experience!
Paul Whetton, 11years old came over to the Irish open for the first time after only having 3 previous competitions to date proving that his desire to win is there! Paul fought in the –47kg point fighting category and battled his way through some tough opposition. Using his skills very neatly to score blitzes against his opponents was Pauls game plan and it worked very well in deed. After settling his nerves by getting through his first round fight in style Paul found himself in the semi finals of the Irish open and he was excited! He used the area to his advantage by moving around and creating some decent angles in order to score his points. The pressure on this young lad was huge and he used it to his advantage right through the match. The score was up and down every second of the fight and Pauls dream of winning was getting nearer and nearer although sometimes in combat sports the referees and judges don’t see everything and decisions have to be swallowed by fighters and coaches and in this occasion it was apparent and Paul just missed out on the win by a point! He earned himself a bronze medal on his first trip to the Irish open which was a magnificent achievement!
Evan Balch, 11 years old fought in the point fighting categories of –42kg and –47kg on Sunday and returned to the Irish open for his second time of competition geared up and ready for a challenge! Evan has trained hard over the past year in order to do his best at this prestigious tournament and as he stepped on the mat against his first opponent he was ready to fight! Good movement along with some clean techniques Evan found himself in the middle of a good match which could go any way! As time went on both fighters were getting tired and Evan narrowly missed out on the win within the fight. His second fight felt better as he was now a lot warmer after his first match. Kicks were more fluent and the hands were working a lot better on the punches. As the fight went on there were a few close techniques that were not scored and this resulted in a loss for Evan but gaining valuable experience on the fighting circuit!
3 bronze medals at the largest tournament in the world is fantastic and within the scale of how big it is just getting onto that podium is a great achievement in itself so a big congratulations to all 4 fighters for competing at such a high level and well done!
