Kickboxers fight well

The international competition is one of the most highly-anticipated on the kickboxing calendar.

In the continuous rounds, Kev Hunter (men’s -84kg) came out second best to his talented Italian opponent.

But in the -89kg continuous section he reached the quarters before losing to a Northern Irish fighter.

Nesta Baxter, 15, defeated Irish and Italian opposition to reach the quarter-finals of the ladies’ (19+) -55kg continuous category.

Successes against Wales’ Rachel House and Italian Giorgio Caputo followed as she reached the final.

Nesta fought top-class senior Luna Mendy in the final, taking silver after a narrow 2-1 defeat.

In the junior (16-18 years) girls’ -55kg points, Nesta beat a Brit opponent but went down to a Hungarian foe 7-5.

In the men’s veterans +89kg continuous, Mark Baldry beat his fellow English fighter 2-1.

Chelsea Leggatt, 16, fought in the junior (16-18yrs) girls’ -70kg points event, defeating a Belgian 6-4 in her first bout.

John Chambers narrowly missed out against an Irishman in his first men’s veteran +89kg points bout.

In the Grand Champion Open Weight section, Team Evolution had John Chambers, Chelsea Leggatt and Nesta Baxter in action.

In the junior girls, Chelsea fought well but lost her opening bout 8-6, while Nesta went down by one point.

In the men’s John fought a US opponent from the All Star team and, despite holding his own, he was beaten.

Eight-year-old Riley Brocklesby fought in the under nines points, winning his first international bout at the expense of an Irish opponent, before being defeated by another Brit entrant.

Paige Stedman, 10, lost by two points in her opening -32kg girls’ younger cadet 10-12 years points fight, but beat the same rival in the -37kg younger cadet points section, losing to an Italian in the following round.

Talon Chambers, nine, fought in the nine-10 years category, winning one and losing his second fight.

Zac Baldry, 11, fought in the -42kg younger cadet boys’ points section and lost out to an experienced foe.