It has been an incredible weekend of competition for UCD Karate, on Saturday the 11th five members of UCD Karate represented the University at the Kanazawa Cup Championship in Tallaght, an open national level competition. The team succeeded in taking home six medals in total. In the junior category, the club swept the board to medal 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in Junior Individual Mixed Kata, with Zung Tran, Werd Al-Najim and Majed Melibary taking the Gold, Silver and Bronze respectively. In the senior category, Yousef Al-Luhayan took home the Bronze Medal for Men’s Senior Kumite.
On Sunday the 12th the entire UCD Karate team lined out to perform spectacularly in The Dublin Inter-Collegiate Cup, which was hosted by UCD. After an impressive day of sportsmanship from the three participating universities, DCU, Trinity and UCD, it was the home team who claimed the cup and the title. Raking up an impressive 14 Gold Medals, 12 Silver and 5 Bronze, UCD laid firm claim to the silverware. There were some stand out performances on the day:
The club’s beginner members were particularly to be admired, with an impressive 21 medals won in the junior categories. Top ranking beginners include: Werd Al-Najim – 1st in Junior Individual Women’s Kata, 1st in Junior Team Kata and 2nd in Junior Team Kumite; Xaolin Li – 2nd in Junior Individual Women’s Kata, 3rd in Junior Individual Women’s Kumite and 2nd in Junior Team Kata; Zung Tran – 1st in Junior Individual Men’s Kata, 3rd in Junior Individual Men’s Kumite, 1st in Junior Team Kata; Majid Melibary – 3rd in Junior Individual Men’s Kata and 1st in Junior Team Kata.
In the intermediate categories, the club secretary Sean Bartlett performed spectacularly, taking home 1st place in the Individual Men’s Kumite and 2nd place in the Individual Men’s Kata.
In the senior categories, the UCD team once again dominated the scoreboard, with Aaron McLoughlin taking home a trio of gold medals, ranking 1st in Senior Individual Men’s Kumite and Kata, as well as taking 1st place alongside his team mates in the Senior Men’s Team Kata. Yousef Al-Luhayan once again placed on the podium for the second day in a row, taking home 1st place in the Senior Men’s Team Kata, 2nd place in the Senior Men’s Individual Kumite and 3rd Place in the Senior Men’s Individual Kata. While Aaron Stokes helped to cement the club’s win by taking home 1st place in the Senior Men’s Team Kata and 2nd place Senior Men’s Individual Kata.
Elizabeth Tracey – UCD Karate
