Success for Offaly kickboxing club at two recent tournaments

BIRR k-1 kickboxing & Self Defence club, recently attended two tournaments and enjoyed good success.

First the club travelled to Ferrybank Kilkenny on January 24^th and were hosted by Kombat Kingdom club.This light contact tournament was very successful with 80 fights matched on the day.

Birr had four fighters matched on the day, Cormac 'Machine' Creamer, Alex 'Fearless' Ginson, Scott 'Van Damme' Carey, Daniel 'Dangerous' McCann. All performed to their best and took home the gold medals in light contact bouts.

Next up was the first major tournament of the Year, the prestigious Four Nations Tournament involving England, Scotland, Wales & Ireland, which was hosted by Ireland and took place on February 1^st in the Hub on Cillin Hill, Co. Kilkenny.

Birr had eight fighters flying the flag for Ireland and their small town, Jack 'Rocky' Kirwan, Conor 'Curly' Hynes, Alan 'Fearless' Ginson, Alex 'Hitman' Hough, Dean 'Real Deal' Brummell, Paddy 'Baddy' Kelly, Cormac 'Machine' Creamer, Scott 'Van Damme' Carey, who all represented the club with pride and passion.

Most of the fighters entered into two disciplines of Kickboxing, full contact kickboxing & k-1 kickboxing.

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Birr were the most successful club on the day in the ring sports full contact with the teenagers and adults. These fighters produced a serious haul of medals, seven gold medals, five silvers and two bronzes.

The Four Nations champions are as follows:

Conor 'Curly' Hynes claimed gold in the k-1 with a devastating KO victory in round 1 of the k-1 final to become Four Nations champion and claimed silver in kickboxing. Conor met a club teammate in the full contact final and handed over the gold medal. At Birr k-1 kickboxing they don't fight each other if or when they reach semi finals or finals. Some clubs will only bring one person per weight categories.

Jack 'Rocky' Kirwan won out two different weight categories 77kg & 83kg both in the k-1 divisions to claim double gold, beating a Muay Thai fighter in one final. Jack won every round in both finals on the judges score cards. Jack sustained an injury and couldn't compete in the final of the kickboxing and took home a sliver medal.

Alan 'Fearless' Ginson lost the k-1 final but claimed a valuable silver medal. Alan quickly composed himself and dusted himself down as he had reached the full contact kickboxing final and faced the European champion in Tyler Hearne. Alan won the final and put in his best performance to date for the club and claimed the gold medal to become Four Nations champion.

Paddy 'Baddy' Kelly stepped into the k-1 light and performed very well and dominated his opponent from start to finish and won a unanimous decision against his English opponent.

Cormac 'Machine' Creamer didn't perform to his best on the day. The cross over to Senior fighting is very difficult and coming into it with a severe cold didn't help matters. But still he claimed two silver medals and gained more valuable experience.

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Alex 'Hitman' Hough also is stepping up to Senior level having recently turning 18 years of age.

Alex lost out to Jake Walsh who is a serious operator in the quarter finals of the k-1 category. Alex was losing very competitive rounds to a highly experienced fighter. Hitman was counter fighting extremely well and in the final 10 seconds he landed a well timed spin back kick and winded his opponent. But unfortunately he ran out of time. His lucky opponent went on to reach the final of the division.

He reached the kickboxing final also but encountered teammate Conor Hynes. Conor accepted the silver and handed over the gold medal to his young club member. Alex Hitman Hough has a very bright future in kickboxing and is progressing fantastically well.

Dean 'Real Dea'l Brummell entered the k-1 semi finals and was performing very well but unfortunately received a hard blow to the groin area and needed the full five minutes to recover. But unfortunately he never fully recovered and lost a very close decision over the three rounds.

Dean had to get final clearance from the medical staff before he could take to the bronze medal match up. Dean faced a tall fighter with excellent reach and timing. But Dean's clean accurate strikes over the course of the three rounds claimed a hard earned bronze medal and gained valuable experience.

Scott 'Van Damme' Carey recently joined the club and has fitted in extremely well. This young man is tough as they come and very talented. Scott reached the final of the k-1 and lost a very close spilt decision to a very strong English opponent.

Young Scott had to recover quickly as his the final of the kickboxing was on just ten minutes later.

He mentally prepared himself and stepped into the ring fit for the final against another English opponent. This was a back and forth war, each round was very competitive but it felt like Scott was landing the cleaner scores.

The 3rd round was very close but in the last 10 seconds Scott's explosive punching combination wobbled his game opponent and sealed the fantastic win.

Scott claimed the Four Nations gold medal.

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Birr's three next up and coming tournaments are as follows. They have a trip to Belfast on February 22nd for an international kickboxing fight night held in the famous 300 seater prokick gym run by the famous four time ex professional fighter Billy Murray and top trainer in the country.

Fighters Paddy Kelly, Alex Hough, Ryan Morrissey, Alan Ginson and Rian Smit are all matched on this international gala of kickboxing.

Then they hold an in-house tournament in Birr on February 28^th. Please come and attend this and watch the standard they have at the club.Ten clubs will be in attendance for a serious day of light contact competition.

Then it's on to the Irish WKA open on March 7th in Larne, Co. Antrim. Teams from England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and some from France will be in attendance. They hope to represent the town of Birr extremely well again.

At the recent WKO AGM, Raphael Creamer, the headcoach of the Birr club, was voted into the position of Vice President of the WKO by the committee. This is a great honour and privilege but comes down to hard work and dedication to the sport of kickboxing.

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