Medals galore for Castlewellan club

Medals galore for Castlewellan club

13 July 2016

KAZOKU Karate club members kicked their way to glory lifting a silver and four bronze medals at the World Championships in Dublin and Italy recently.

Fighters from the Castlewellan club travelled to the City West Hotel for the WUKF World Karate Championships last month. 

The Kazoku club had 11 fighters taking part in the four-day event with over 2,285 athletes, 72 federations, 260 coaches and 124 referees in attendance. 

It was a long and tough four days for competitors, but the squad once again did the club proud with each fighter showing speed, skill, power, accuracy and plenty of heart when fighting. 

Aidan Owens was the first member on the podium, having collected a silver medal after being narrowly defeated 3-2 by England in the final. Along the way Aidan defeated competitors from Italy, India, Scotland and Romania. 

Izobela Moynihan was next on the podium with a bronze medal. She scored some fantastic techniques throughout the tournament which gained Izobela a well-deserved bronze medal.

Barry McAnulty was the last fighter on the podium. He was competing in the highly competitive 18-21 section where he showed tremendous heart, skill and determination to defeat Brazil for the world bronze medal.

A week later the fighters from Castlewellan travelled to Italy to take part in the WKC World Championships where they came away with another two medals.

Conor McAnulty was first on the podium. In extreme heat, Conor fought well and picked up some good wins along the way to the semi-final. He was defeated by the eventual winner from Russia, who was at least 6ft 5in, and picked up a bronze medal. Conor is already talking about a rematch. 

Barry McAnulty then went on to win his second World Championship medal inside a week, quite an achievement, and picked up another bronze medal when he defeated an Italian opponent 5-2 to get the job done.

The club also won national titles in Dublin and Belfast while they also travelled to England to pick up winners’ medals earlier in the year.

Club instructor Gerard McAnulty jnr said: “It has been a fantastic year so far for Kazoku Karate. 

“The recent achievements by our members were helped by seminars delivered by Junior Lefevre and Christophe Pinna earlier this year, both multiple World Karate Championships and European Karate Championships medal winners, where fighters picked up some wonderful techniques and ideas to bring back to the gym.

“We would like to thank our sponsors Braniff Joinery, WeLetWeSell and S Cleland Joinery for their generous support.

We would also like to thank parents and supporters for their continuous support, it is much appreciated.

“A final thanks to the fighters for all their hard work and dedication. Keep up the good work.”

Kazoku squad: Gerard McAnulty, Aidan Owens, Barry McAnulty, Conor McAnulty, Niall Dornan, Odhran Braniff, Shea Cleland, Izobela Moynihan, Gerard Walsh, Lochlin Moynihan and Ryan McCourt.