Four of St. Peter’s students were part of a 26 person Irish Squad who recently participated in the 8th Shotokan Karate-Do United Nations (SKDUN) European Championships in Dabrowa Gornicza Poland.
The championships are recognised as the biggest and toughest traditional Shotokan tournament in Europe with an average of 1,700 competitors from 35 countries taking part.
Passage West Karate Club had 9 members representing Ireland at the championships, 4 of which are students from St. Peters . Sinead O’Flynn, Aisling Corkery, Daniel Rea and Maeve O’Brien.
The tournament was a fantastic success story for the Irish who finished ranking 6th at the end of the competition. The Irish collected 26 medals in total, 13 of which came from Passage West.
The Irish competitor of the championships was Sinead O’Flynn, now the reigning SKDUN European Champion in both Jiyu Ippon (semi-sparring) and Kumite (full sparring). Sinead overcame strong opponents from Romania, Hungary, Moldova and Poland to secure individual gold in both categories.
Sinead also won two bronze medals in Team Kata (form) alongside Aisling Corkery. Both Sinead and Aisling also secured Bronze in the Team Kumite (full sparring) category, securing two bronze medals in team events for Aisling Corkery.
Daniel Rea was Silver in the Individual Kumite (full sparring) narrowly missing out to a very strong Romanian fighter. Daniel also won a bronze medal in Team kumite (full sparring) alongside fellow club mates.
Maeve O’Brien showed great spirit and skill to see off several talented opponents, finishing up just outside the medals.
These competitors have made the breakthrough onto the highest level of international competition and have established themselves among the best in Karate in Europe. The future is bright for these talented young students