Medal haul by Fermoy Karate Club at European Championships
Members of Fermoy Karate Club took to Subotica in Serbia over the weekend to represent Ireland at the 11th SKDUN European Championship.
Competing across Kata and Kumite, members from the Fermoy club took home four bronze medals and a silver medal after facing some tough competition.
Speaking with The Avondhu, Fermoy Karate Club member Shane Hurley, said that the club had been preparing for the event since November.
“We’ve all been training for years but we really picked it up since November and started putting in the extra hours over the past couple of months to get ready,” he said.
Under the Kata categories, competitors are judged on form and the event consists of performing routines with punches and kicks, whereas in Kumite, com
petitors physically fight one another.
Although absent from Friday’s events due to a knee injury, Shane managed to claim a bronze medal in a Masters grand championship event which is a hybrid
of Kata and Kumite.
Brian Toomey, who is an instructor at Fermoy Karate Club and coaches the Irish team, claimed a silver in the Over 60s Kata.
Also from Fermoy Karate Club, Alison Hennessy took an impressive three bronze medals in Kata, and in Jiyu Ippon Kumite.
Speaking about the event, Shane noted the exceptionally high standards competing this year despite a smaller turnout than pre-covid times.
“It was a fairly high standard but it wasn’t as well attended as previous years. Russia, Ukraine and Belarus were all missing and they would each normally have very strong teams.
“The last time we competed was at the Worlds in Serbia in November 2020 and this was our first competition back since the start of the pandemic. Everyone was very sharp and competing to a very high level, even more so than before so we were very happy to get the medals that we did,” Shane added.
Not stopping at the European Championships, Fermoy Karate Club have a busy calendar with their next event set to take place on April 16.
The club are preparing to host a squad training seminar which will see several other Karate Clubs take to Fermoy for the open training seminar.
On May 8th, the club will take part in their next competition, the Irish National Championship while their next event abroad will be in Macedonia in November.