The 2nd Wako European cup karlovac open February 7th and 8th 2015.
It has been a very busy and productive opening to 2015 for EPIC’s students and this trend continued with another trip abroad, this time to Croatia for the 2nd Wako European cup karlovac open, where once again the students gave their all and secured medal places. This feat is even more remarkable given that the tournament played host to 22 countries and 1,444 competitors, a truly huge competition. That said, the EPIC students representing Team Bristol shone, with more gold, silver and bronze medals to add to a rapidly growing collection for 2015 and it is still only February.
Hayden Challenger continued his excellent start to the year, winning five of his six matches to take away a well-earned first place and a third to cap off a remarkable few weeks that has seen him work very hard to get to this position but the results have been worth the effort. Athens was good but Croatia was special as he earned that first placed trophy and a big thank you goes out to all of his coaches who have helped in his journey so far.
The Doyle family had a successful trip as well with young Ellie Doyle getting a great set of bronze medals in both the -28 and the-32 divisions, an amazing result considering this was her first competition abroad. Harrison Doyle also took bronze in the -28category, losing by a single point to the overall winner. Highlight of the day was Harrison unleashing an amazing head kick on the bell and what would have been a winning technique but unfortunately it wasn’t scored. Bronze however, is still an excellent result on his first trip abroad. Kam Doyle came home with three medals, silver in light contact, bronze in points -52 kg and an amazing bronze in the open weight 13/15 years category, with a sweep on someone twice his size, putting him to the floor, amazed the crowd and hinted at plenty more medals to come in the future.
At cadet level Rio Williams also shone, taking bronze in the -32 division, where he fought some of the toughest fighters from around the world. He had five nail-biting fights as the category was so vast and one of the highlights of the day was when Rio fought a highly respected fighter from the Kiraly team to a draw. The match went to a minute extra time and the boys where still even, so it was down to first to score and Rio caught the boy with a beautiful 2 point head kick to win the fight.
This International level of competition showcases the fact that the EPIC students are learning fast, gaining in experience and really benefitting from the exciting calendar of events their instructors ensure that they have access to. On this evidence there are plenty more medals to come in 2015 for a talented group of dedicated competitors and their equally committed instructors. The future’s bright…the future’s EPIC!
