The 'Budo' JKA Karate Club, Kilkenny, had major success at the JKA National Karate Championship 2009 which washeld recently in Cork City. The club took a staggering 18 medals at the event with a good spread of gold, silver and bronze medals.
In the Junior events, Jonathan McGrath was very impressive as he battled his way to take a silver medal in the under 16 boys’ sparring section. This was a huge achievement considering it was his first tournament. Thomas Walsh of Thomastown was one of the more successful competitors on the day as he captured a gold medal in the 16-19 year old male sparring section. Thomas is now the current JKA Ireland champion at his level. He followed this up with two silver medals when he came second in the Kata (pre-arranged movements ) section and captained the Kilkenny team to the final in the team event.
Other successful Kilkenny competitors on the day included Dave Treacy, Niall Hoyne, Susan Murphy, Sonya Greore, Billy Clowry, and Alan Kirwan all of which train regularly with the 'Budo' JKA Karate Club, Kilkenny. A special mention must be made to Henry Maher of Cuffesgrange who took third place in the men’s senior sparring and who was inspirational in his effort to help secure second place in the teams event for Kilkenny.
The Kilkenny team were pipped at the post by Cork as they battled to secure the JKA Ireland Cup. After a 'down-to-the-wire' battle in the semi-final the victorious Kilkenny team made it to the final of the team event taking on the much more experienced Cork team. All of the Cork team had black-belt competitors while the Kilkenny team had just one. Teams consisted of three males and a female with the females sparring against each other. First up for Kilkenny was Thomas Walsh. He took on the Cork captain and while at a disadvantage in terms of experience and physicality put on a brave show but was defeated two points to nil. Second for Kilkenny was Dave Treacy. Again, Dave came out the worse as he was beaten two points to nil although a few scores could have easily gone his way. Four points down, Kilkenny needed to get scores quickly. Henry Maher was quick to answer the call as he won his bout two points to one. In the final event Sonya Greore from Kilkenny won with a clear two nil victory. At this stage all points were added together and the score read four points to Kilkenny and five points to Cork with Cork becoming the new champions.
Overall the Kilkenny club took 18 medals. This was a major achievement for the club and showed how much everybody had progressed over the year. Further details on the event can be seen by visiting www.budokarateclub.com
