Team England take 30 Golds, 25 Silvers and 22 Bronze at the ISKA Amateur Worlds in Alicante
Nothing could establish the new ISKA UK Amateur Director Mr. Clifton Findley better that a successful World Championships. Clifton wanted to prove in that ISKA England is still a force to be reckoned with. After a careful selections at the Nationals back in May in London and also Monthly Squad training sessions Team Directors Paul Gilmore, Owen King,Matthew Winsper and Joe Hallett selected a Team of 90 strong fighters in terms of quality ready for action.
Joe Pollitt receives his medal for ISKA President Cory Schafer
Alicante city in Spain was the venue for the ISKA world championships. This beautiful city with golden sand and its beautiful seafront couldn’t be any better for the 43 countries and over 800 participants from all over the globe in semi/light/full and forms.
First up for England was the hungry Joe Pollitt, who couldn’t wait to get on the mat to prove he was a worthy champion. He dominated this section from start to finish, bringing back England’s first medal in the boy’s -28kg semi contact. He also went onto claim to the boy’s -28kg silver in light contact. Jake Hurst stepped up next in the boy’s -30kg to secure England’s second gold medal with a vintage performance. He made it a double by taking the gold in the -30kg light contact as well. Matthew Hosking did England proud by taking a Gold medal in the -40kg light contact. Kyle Gregory just missed out on gold to take Silver in the boys semi contact -45kg. Over in the girl’s section, Megan Mingle, lead the way destroying all of her components in front of her to take gold medal with her excellent final fight. Niamh Bruntlett nearly clinched gold but lost by one point to take the silver in the girls -30kgs. So did Ebony Kirk over in the girls -42kg semi contact. Eden Benny fought Tremendous in the junior girls -55kg to take gold for England she also took a Bronze medal in light contact -55kg not to be out done by her team mate and training partner Laura Easterbrook followed down the same path by claiming gold in the junior girls -63kg. Sam Derby came close to gold but had to settle for silver in the boy’s semi -30kgs and a bronze in the light contact -30kgs. Kieran Higson-Walker managed to hang onto silver in the -40kg semi contact, while Ryan McLusky, this world champion brought home two gold medals in the boy’s -50kgs semi/light contact well done. Junior Boys -51kg saw an informed Bradley Byrne swept to Gold in a great final showdown while his brother Ben Byrne stepped into the Ring for Low Kick and put in a good show to claim a Bronze medal. Gold also went to Callum Hawthorne who fought like a true warrior in the -67kg junior boy’s semi contact. Team mate Tony Banks followed in his footsteps to claim his first gold in the -71kg junior boy’s. Silver medal went to Dan Gregory in this tic for tack match in the junior boys +75kg. Not to be left out was George (the beast) Reece, with gold in the -57kg in the semi contact. Rachel Wainwright was in fine form when she made it to the finals in the -55kg semi and light contact, but she had to settle for two silver medals, running from mat to mat. My thoughts if she had focused on one section, she would have taken the gold. Only next year will tell. Andy Chapman lost by one point in the finals but said he will be back next year for that gold in the semi contact cadets -57kg. Anthony Cridland and Nathan Pugsley each got silver and bronze
Jake Hurst winning Gold
while Josh Hayward received silver in the -63kg semi contact. Joe Dadson fought hard to take two bronze medals in semi and light contact while Phil Peverelle put in a fine performance to take silver in the -71kgs. Adam Cork missed out on silver but took a bronze in the -57kg. Nathan Gregory took a Silver medal while James Cheetham took the Bronze in the -91kg semi contact. Andy Desa fighting like a demon possessed in the light contact -67kgs to secure silver in a close fight which could have gone either way. In the men’s semi, Chris ‘The Dream’ Green, lead the way by taking in the adult’s gold in the men’s -63kg in semi contact. The likes of Lewis Morrison, Kyle Findley, Chris Lowe, Raj Chiripal and Andy Desa all dropping at the first hurdles. This shows how tough this championship was. Out came Ryan Pacey, this young man so hungry after seeing many team mates fall, pulled out all stops to win in convincing style to take our second gold medal in the -81kgs in the semi contact. Mark Brown, who joined the team at the last minute, had the perfect timing and took out two fighters on the way to the finals with a clear ten point victory. In the finals he met Ross Lavine from the team USA. This fight lived up to all expectations with Mark blitzing and Ross countering. Heavy shots were going in both directions, but it was Lavine who came out on top to take the gold and creditable silver for Mark. Barry Plechowicz took a well deserved Bronze medal in the +35 years and +75kg semi contact while Steven Hocking follow suit by claiming Bronze in the Veterans +40kg and Bronze also in the +75kg semi contact. Leasha Morrison fought in the finals of the ladies -57kgs; nobody could stop this world champion from losing. She won in fine style to take the gold medal home. Carrie Hilton, also from the same club managed a bronze medal in the ladies -50kg. Alice Glasspool fought well to take a bronze medal in the -60kg in her first ISKA outing. Mel Evans fought well to take a Silver in the +63kg in light contact and a Bronze in the +63gk in semi contact. Nina Das Gupta went one better and got a silver in the -66kg semi contact and silver in the light contact. Kay Wasiukiewicz was unstoppable when she took the gold medal for England in a fine fight against her British co-partner. Hazel Gayle in the +66kg, nobody could stop this warrior from London, England, to win in the light contact, then step into the ring to also claim her second gold of the day in the +66kg full contact. Stefania Malewicz took a bronze medal in the -60kg light contact and her team mate (and relative) Zofia Malewicz took the gold in the +66kg vets in semi contact. Seasoned fighter, Audifax Kinga, was in no mood for any opponents by beating all in front of him, to take gold in the -71kg light contact. He then stepped into the ring and got a bronze medal in full contact. Mohamed Quronfleh, took a worthy bronze in the men’s -75kg light contact, guaranteed he will strike gold next year. Stuart ‘The King’ Lawson, at a tender age of 37, the multi world champion, so cool and calm, fought in the -67kg full contact and showed the world why he is not slowing down by beating his Jordanian fighter, who was a tough component, in two rounds in the finals. This Londoner is a credit to ISKA, England, not only in his fighting skills, but also when needed to translate in Spanish; Stuart did such a good job when problems occurred. The whole of ISKA would like to thank you very much.
Over in the Kata section, on the first day of competition the Kata and Forms kicked off with all the -13 Kids traditional sections. Team England had three competitors in these sections Chelsie Scoble, Megan Abel and Jamie Davis. First up for England were Chelsie and Megan both competing in -13 Girls Japanese Hard Style, both competitors performing two sharp and strong Katas. When Results were in Chelsie received a 4th place with Megan Abel narrowly beaten by a German competitor taking a well deserved Silver medal. Next up was -13 Girls Korean Style and it was Megan’s time for pay back, executing a top notch Kata with high kicks and powerful punches taking a Gold and beating the German girl from her previous category. Megan went on to take a second Gold Medal in the -13 Girls Soft Style. Last but not least Jamie Davis took the mat and made it his own, impressing all the judges and receiving high scores for his Pudao weapon Form taking a Gold Medal for Team England in -13 Boys Traditional Weapons. The tournament finished at a 6.30pm leaving the rest of the traditional sections and all the freestyle categories for day two.
After an early night all the English competitors were up bright and early Thursday morning ready to rock the house in the national basketball arena for day two of the ISKA World Championships. The first competitor representing Team England in Men’s Korean Style was Stuart Wade. With all the competitors lining up it was clear that Stuart had some tough competition to beat. As European Champion he was seeded, going second from last. Stuart earned his place in the finals where he had to perform another form going for gold he put 110% in to his Kata. Unfortunately he came just short of the Gold medal and had to settle for Silver. Well done Stuart. Next up for England was Helen Osborn who has experienced World Championship glory many times and just the week before won the WKA World Championships in Scotland so she went out on the mats to do the double whammy. That was exactly what she did, bringing home a Gold medal with her amazing Tai Chi form.
On to the Freestyle sections with -13 Girls Freestyle Empty Hand where we saw England’s Megan Abel go against a French competitor for the top spot. Megan performed a slick form which won her a 3rd Gold medal. Now it was the boys turn with Jacob Riva and Joe Aisthorpe representing England in this section. Jacob went on first using his cute factor qualities and a well balanced form with tricks and martial arts, leaving the judges very impressed. After their French opponent performed it was Joe’s turn, pulling out all the stops. Both boys were rewarded with Jacob receiving a Silver medal and Joe taking the Bronze. Next up was Josh Lewis in the Junior boys Freestyle Empty Hand. New to the ISKA circuit, Josh definitely wanted to make an impression, which he did, with an action packed form from start to finish, becoming the new ISKA World Champion 2010. Now it was the Freestyle With Weapon Kids where reigning World Champion Jack Underwood was to defend his title and with new comer Aaron Lee Benwell England was in with a big shout for some medals in this section. The first competitor from Spain made several mistakes in his form which left the Silver and Gold medals up for grabs between England’s two boys. Aaron performed a breath taking form unfortunately stumbling his weapon which cost him 0.5 from each of the judges scores. Last but not least saw Jack Underwood defend his title in style, receiving the Gold Medal with Aaron taking the Silver. On to the Junior Freestyle With Weapon. Josh Lewis and Joe Pitman were representing their country with their weapon routines, both boys were capable of taking the Gold. Josh performed his form perfectly right until the last seconds where a slip with his kamas and catching the blade meant a 1 point deduction from each judge’s score taking him into 4th place. Next was Joe Pitman performing his Bo routine and receiving high scores across the board from the judges. It was clear Joe was going to take the Gold but after a controversial debate about a German competitor’s form being re scored, it pushed Joe back into Silver medal position. Now it was the Adults turn to show off their weapon skills with Tanya Ledger coming up against some tough competition from the Italians, Tanya had to settle for a well deserved Silver medal. The Mens Freestyle With Weapon division became the biggest Freestyle section of the day with top names including Ross Levine from USA competing. England’s Josh Owen and Jon Evans represented their country in this category both pulling off some impressive forms but this time lost out on the medals by a few points. In the Women Freestyle Empty Hand Tanya Ledger drew for 3rd place and had to repeat her form. The judges awarded in favour of her opponent from Italy and she had to settle for a 4th place.
Overall Team England’s Kata/Forms squad represented their country in fantastic style and brought home 8 Golds, 5 Silvers and 3 Bronze Medals. Congratulations to all.
In the Semi/Light and Full Contact we brought home 22 Golds. 20 Silvers and 19 Bronze Medals so Overall for the Entire British Team Tally 30 Golds 25 Silver and 22 Bronze.
The competition came to an end Friday night. To set everyone up for Saturday’s presentation, they had a day off on the beach before flying back Sunday afternoon.
The ceremony went ahead; each country was presented with perspective medals in a lovely presentation on stage, with ISKA president, Cory Schafer.
I would like to take this great opportunity in thanking ISKA England team for their great support and dedication. One Hundred and Forty people flew across to Alicante and we all gelled as a team from the very start right through to the very end.
I look forward to seeing you all at the ISKA Nationals in Birmingham at the Doug Ellis Sports Centre on April 17th 2011. For further information contact Clifton Findley on 07788 476 478 or email , furthermore you can look at the ISKA website http://www.Iska.org.uk for updates and information.
26 November 2010
Also in the news
- 20 December 2010
STRIKEFORCE Challengers 2011
NEW YORK (Dec. 20, 2010) – Four-time U.S. National Judo Champ and 2004 U.S. Judo Olympian Dr. Rhadi Ferguson will put his perfect MMA record on the line against up-and-coming undefeated light heavyweight Ion Cherdivara on the STRIKEFORCE Challengers Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fight card presented by Rockstar Energy Drink on Friday, Jan. 7, 2011, at Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn., live on SHOWTIME® at 11 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast). Read more
- 12 December 2010
K-1 WGP2010: A Monster Crowned
December 11, 2010 Tokyo, Japan Finally, the date to which we have been counting down like children before Christmas has arrived. The FieLDS 2010 K-1 World Grand Prix surpassed all expectations! A sellout crowd of 11,835 screaming fans crammed into Ariake Colosseum to witness the spectacle. It seems like all of the participants lifted their game to a new level. The new generation fighters really proved they belong firmly in the ranks, and the veterans participating gave them everything they could handle. Read more
- 6 December 2010
Hendo and Daley win by KO at STRIKEFORCE
ST. LOUIS (Dec. 5, 2010) – Legendary MMA superstar Dan Henderson, 41, proved he is back in a major way Saturday as he closed an outstanding night of exciting, non-stop action fights by demolishing former STRIKEFORCE World Champion Renato “Babalu” Sobral in 1:53 in the main event on SHOWTIME® before a crowd of 7,146 at Scottrade Center. Read more
- More ISKA news
