Tallaght Martial Arts (TMA) were out in force for the recent Bristol Open taking home 28 Medals of the 108 taken by the Irish in multiple disciplines. TMA recorded 3 first place finishes, 13 silvers and 12 bronze! Jodie Browne taking to the mats in the invitation only 5K Challenge culminated in a nail biting final where Jodie was narrowly beaten. Cheered on by a tiny but raucous TMA crowd. Jodie showed true champion spirit in her attitude on losing out on such a huge prize. She is up again this weekend in the World Combat Games, the only Irish Athlete to qualify for the event.
Outstanding Gold Medal performances came from Reece Doyle in the -42kg Light Contact section. A clash of team mates in both Junior Kick light and -37kg OC Light Contact sections seeing 1st and 2nd place on the podium going to a TMA Athlete. Callum O’Connor and Naman Shrivastava fought it out in the -69kg Junior Kick Light section with Callum taking the Gold. Similarly in the -37kg OC Light Contact Edward Comerford and Dara Kelly-Clarke went head to head in the final with Edward taking the Gold. Edward also went on to win a Silver in -37kg OC Points and a Bronze in -42kg Points. Ellen Mc Caughey took Silver in 5 different sections, sharing 2 with Team mate Lisa McCabe in the Junior and Senior Tag Team Challenge. Lisa also took home a bronze medal in her single points fighting section. Amy Comerford and AnnMarie O’Grady taking a silver and bronze a piece in their respective sections. AnnMarie’s scintillating final had the whole crowd behind her. She focuses now on Senior WAKO World Championships in November.
Isabel Golding took 2 Bronze in two sections on the Saturday after some tough fights in the -47kg and +47kg Light contact sections, Gar Ryan & Eryn Birkhead also taking bronze in -94kg Senior Men’s Point fighting and -50kg Junior Light Contact sections respectively. Anna White and Sarah Cassidy coming up against clubmates Ellen McCaughey and Lisa McCabe in the Semi Finals of the Junior Ladies Tag Team with a TMA Jersey filled Tatami. The girls put their best foot forward with Anna and Sarah narrowly losing out taking the bronze in the section and Ellen and Lisa progressing to the Finals where they ended with a Silver medal. Naman Shrivastava alongside Team Ireland and BMA Tajus Kruminis also took a Silver medal in Junior Tag Team. Naman also taking a bronze in the -69kg Light Contact.
Overall a fantastic turnout for the Tallaght Martial Arts Team. With World Combat Games and Senior WAKO World Championships on the horizon it will be a busy few weeks for the club.
