On the 19th March six U.S.K.A
fighters made their way down the short distance to Stockland
Green Leisure Centre in Erdington Birmingham to compete in
the I.S.K.A open tournament and European selections.
In an attempt to make the I.S.K.A team to represent England
at the European Championships in Augsburg Germany in April
Jay Collett, Mark Sedgwick, Azad Khan, Murdock Kellyman, Qasim
Nisar and Tommy Collett and their merry following of USKA
support turned out bright and early to make their mark and
get down to business.
First impressions were not the best. The turnout seemed very
thin on the ground indeed and although the presentation looked
good it was all about getting our boys the fights that would
see them qualify for possible International honours.
A delayed start we assume to let possible late comers arrive
saw a fight order set.
First up to represent U.S.K.A and first time back on a mat
for over two years was Azad 'The Wrath Of' Khan in the 13-18
years under 51kg category.
Azad got straight down to business
in the first round of the competition against his opponent
from Blackpool. With expert timing of technique Azad made
very few mistakes cruising to an easy points decision.
The final saw Azad matched against a smaller but heavier opponent
from Steve Millers club in the West Midlands. It was very
apparent early on that the young lad was going to struggle
with what Azad was bringing to the mat as Azad was hitting
him at will and effortlessly switching through the gears.
A compassionate referee Wayne Turner stopped the contest enforcing
the outclassed rule mid way through the first round leaving
Azad the winner of the bout and first man to book his place
in Europe.
With one qualification for
USKA it was now time for Jay 'Sugarfoot' Collett to compete
in the Under 13 years -35kg category.
Somewhat of a shock to the
system for Jay in the first round of the competition matched
against WUMA squad member Jordan. Jordan although smaller
than Jay was very fast and had really good kicking technique
that he was using well to back Jay up.
Jay mid way through the round found his feet and asserted
himself scoring impressive clean head kicks. As is the case
alot of times with mat fighters Jordan started to tire near
the closing of the round allowing Jay to take over and power
home to victory.
A unanimous yet close competitive win for Jay and through
to the final.
Another tough fight for Jay in the final against a lad from
Team Shorai.
Jay winning the first round of this fight quite cleanly on
kick rate but having to work pretty hard against the good
punches of his opponent.
Round two saw Jay take a few too many punches to his head
which caused a bloody nose but managed to keep his scoring
in front to once again get the nod from the judges.
Two tough fights for 'Sugarfoot' to earn himself the win and
once again selections for the European Championships.
So far
so good with another one in the bag for the USKA team. Could
this good fighting form continue with next combatant Mark
'The Killer Kicker' Sedgwick to fight in the Under 13 years
-41kg category.
Tough fights must have been
the order for the day with Mark matched against Christian
from Sue Fells Kickboxing gym in his first round of competition.
Christian was a little buzz saw with his hands but was struggling
to compete with Marks superior kicking technique.
Christian in the fight right up to the end but the winner
of the bout was never in question.
The Killer Kicker proceeds onto the final to meet one of H
Willock's fighters from the renowned Birmingham Martial Arts
Centre.
An aggressive start from the BMAC boy seen Mark had to raise
his game in order to not be overwhelmed. Again it seemed like
the superior kicking technique from Mark would give him the
edge with the judges but the BMAC fighter was scoring well
with his hands and was still very much making an argument
of the fight.
In round two Mark continued were he had left off and the work
of the BMAC fighter seemed to be getting scrappier as he was
starting to tire. This allowed Mark even more space to get
his already scoring kicks of more effectively.
A perfectly timed axe kick from Mark bloodied the nose of
the BMAC fighter and by now it seemed as though we were very
much home and dry on the score cards.
Out of frustration the BMAC fighter bundled Mark over and
even tried to land a punch while he was on the floor. You
could see in Mark's eyes as he got up that he was not impressed
and that it was now time for the no more Mr nice guy act.
Mark finished the fight more aggressively scoring some sweet
head kicks and making his opponent fight on the back foot
letting him know that he could win it ruff aswell.
Another win to the USKA team and another place in Europe reserved
for The Killer Kicker.
This was all going a little
too well with three out of three qualified. could our run
of good luck continue or would it run out with our next competitor
Qasim 'The Dream' Nisar participating in the 13-18 years under
63kg category.
Qasim who is the tallest kid
in the world in his first bout was matched against a shorter
but nimble opponent from World Champion Fran Zuccala's Eclipse
gym.
The Eclipse lad struggled to come to terms with Qasim's reach
advantage and the dream pretty much had the bout all his own
way dictating the fight at range and picking of his man with
controlled but sharp combinations.
The final had Qas matched against a very good fighter from
Charlesworth Martial arts club.
Again Qasim was using his reach well but the good timing from
the CMA lad was catching Qas with the odd straight punch that
he was not expecting.
First round in the bag for Qas and all he had to do now was
protect his lead and he too would be on his way to Germany
at the end of April.
Round two started with Qas more focused and business like.
He was making less mistakes now and was hardly getting caught
with anything and also making his opponent pay for his mistakes.
Qasim in total control now opens up with a flurry of technique
that saw referee Wayne Turner step in to administer a 8 count
to give the CMA lad a rest bite.
The whistle blows and once again another USKA fighter is successful
in his attempt to qualify. The worthy winner Mr Qasim Nisar.
So Qasim continues the trend
of the day and qualifies with flying colours. He now gets
the chance to add the I.S.K.A European championship to the
WAKO Jnr European championship that he won in October last
year.
Ok, do you want the good news or the bad news?
Right, good news first. Due to no competitors registering
to compete in Murdock Kellyman and Tommy 'Gun' Collett's category's
they receive automatic qualifications for their divisions.
Now for the bad news, In order for them to get a fight today
they would both have to compete in the 13-18 years Over 71kg
category that had guys up to 95kg competing in it.
That is a massive 28kg heavier than Murdock and 25kg heavier
than Tommy. This coupled with the fact that even if they were
not squashed by the bigger guys they would at some point run
into each other and have to fight to progress in the competition.
With a cross that bridge when they come to it attitude both
agreed that this is what they would do.
First Tommy against Eclipse
kickboxing's Aaron Evans. Evans opened up sharp and fast hitting
Tommy and moving off out of trouble. Tommy a notorious slow
starter would have to wake up quickly if he was not going
to be eliminated in the first round of this competition.
Tommy begins to fight going forward and moving first with
his attack.
A Tommy Collett throwing combinations is a different animal
altogether and he starts to turn the fight back around and
land more consistently. Through to Tommy's pressure fighting
Evans is throwing less now and has lost his early lead and
is losing his chances in the fight.
With Evans on the retreat for the rest of the fight there
is no surprise when Tommy is awarded the fight by Unanimous
verdict and he proceeds onto the second round of the competition.
Murdock in his first fight was matched against another Eclipse
fighter and brother of Tommy victim Robert Evans. Tommy had
fought Robert a few years back in an English title fight and
we knew on his day that he could be a real handful.
Murdock not bothered was ready for action and confident of
a win.
Murdock following Tommy's lead decided he would not wait and
press the action from the opening bell. Letting go with fantastic
fluent combination of technique Murdock's form can only be
described as breathtaking.
The fast start from Murdock had really upset Robert's rhythm
and he was finding it difficult to get anything of effect
off other than an occasional jab or cross.
Flamboyant technique from Murdock continued right up to the
final bell and a defeated Robert conceded the loss to the
far better man on the day.
Murdock would now get a bye and proceed to the final to fight
the winner of the next bout.
The next fight had Tommy matched against the heaviest fighter
in the division weighing in at 95kg and fighting out of Blackpool
kickboxing gym.
Tommy did not wait so long to get going this time knowing
that if he let the bigger guy get into the habit of coming
forward it could be the end of the road for him in this competition.
Tommy was relying on precise kicking technique on the outside
and fast multiple punch combinations to keep the guy busy
on the defence anytime he got close. Tommy would then move
off and disengage before the bigger guy could get any effective
shots off.
These tactics were working well and the blackpool fighter
seemed to be tiring now which was making the job at hand that
little bit easier for Tom.
The fight played out and as expected Tommy had done enough
to earn himself a place in the final along side team mate
Murdock.
Murdock and Tommy had already agreed that they would just
have a friendly spar seeing as they had both qualified by
being in the final. They would then give the judges the almost
impossible task of splitting the two to decide who would list
the 1st place trophy.
Both rounds showed both fighters demonstrate excellent technique
and control and as a result the judges awarded a draw.
Due to competition rules a winner had to be found and it was
requested that they go an extra round to split the two.
After the third round the judges were still split and mat
referee Wayne Turner was left with the difficult decision
of finding the winner.
Wayne being more impressed by the more flamboyant technique
of Murdock awarded him the win.
Both were happy enough with the decision and in effect it
was more like a draw anyway.
Well, we could not have really
asked for any more than that. Six fighters fought and six
fighters qualified. Six Gold medal places and one SIlver medal
position missing out in the tip tap spar with his team mate.
So Europe beckons for an USKA contingent of four now.
Unfortunately due to illness Tommy 'Gun' Collett will not
be making the trip and little brother Jay 'Sugarfoot' Collett
has a condition that makes it very difficult for him to fly
which also will rule him out of the Championships.
This leaves all USKA's hopes of European glory in the hands
of Mark, Azad, Murdock and Qasim.
They will be accompanied on their trip by USKA coach Sean
Quinn and loyal USKA supporters Rubina bi, Jang Beg and Eric
Sedgwick.
The team fly out on the 26th April and return on the 30th.
Best of luck boys. Do what you do best and i'm sure you will
be successful.
Time for USKA to get all International
on yo asses!
