Wow – what a fun, busy, and challenging day down at the ICO Welsh Opens this weekend!
It’s been a few years since we’ve been to an Open, as we’ve been rebuilding the team across Light and Full Contact and K1 on the tournament circuit (after mostly sticking to gala days for a while).
By the end of the day, we walked away with:
2 x Golds & 4 x Silvers!
Plenty to be proud of and plenty to learn and build on. I’m super proud of everyone—these are long days (and weekends) with lots of travel involved (as many clubs know), and they always come with their fair share of challenges and drama. This time? Cars were breaking down, ceilings were falling in—but we still made it happen.
We came away with strong wins, shiny silverware, and valuable lessons for the future.
Huge thanks to Callum for all the support—helping warm up the fighters, getting them ready, and keeping us up to date with timings and ring changes.
Special shout out to Dillon, who had four back-to-back fights—K1 to KB to K1 and back to KB—changing kit and rings every time, with little to no rest except for a quick wardrobe change at ringside. After some gritty battles and solid wins, he stepped into the ring for the Continuous Final and returned with Gold.
Jayen took Silver after some significant adjustments mid-fight—he really listened going into Round 2 and pulled it back to a tight split decision.
Zavien’s first bout was against the young man who went on to win the whole thing—no shame there. We fought a champ, learned loads, and will come back stronger.
Fyn stopped his opponent in Round 1, taking him through to the final and securing a Silver in K1 Light!
An hour later, he was back in the ring for K1 Full—winning his Semi and taking another Silver in the Final against a seriously talented lad who gave us an absolute masterclass in K1.
Jake just missed out on Gold in the KB Full Contact final—a full-on blood bath (not his blood!) that ended in a razor-close split decision. A few hours and a few more tough bouts later, Jake was back at it in K1, taking Gold with a perfect display of skill, control, and spot-on execution from the corner (me!).
Great to see the “I am famous team”
ALWAYS good to catch up with plenty of fellow instructors, friends and family’s, always makes the day go quicker.
