WSAF World Aikido Championships 2017

And so it came to pass.. The first ever team to represent Éire (Ireland) at a World Aikido Championship event departed for London on 16th August, 2017 after months of tough preparation. The event was the 2017 WSAF Aikido World Championships which was hosted at the UEL Sports Dock in the University of East London.

The 2017 WSAF Aikido World Championships was run over three consequetive days starting on Friday 17th August and running through to the evening of Sunday 19th with teams from Switzerland, Brazil, Éire, Great Britian, Spain, United States of America, Russia, Australia, Japan and more.

For the first time at an Aikido World championships there was Junior, Youth and Cadet Championships running concurrently with the Seniors Championship. This is where the focus of our club had been engaged over the last four months. Already this year our Junior, Youth and Cadet players had secured major wins at UK regional, UK National and at the European Championships in the run-up. Could they now achieve success on the world stage?

Making History

A team of nine players from Dublin Tomiki Aikido (DTA) had been selected; three Seniors, two Cadets, two Youths and two Juniors to compete in the WSAF World Aikido Championships, most representing Éire (Ireland) for the first time ever at an Aikido World Championships event. 

As can be imagined, with some of the best players in the world in attendance, competition was expected to be tough. Having studied, sweated and trained hard over the preceeding months all our players, Junior, Youth, Senior and Coaches put in a huge performance demonstrating true budo spirit, a strong will to win and a high level of technical competance.

It was even more impressive that all of our Junior, Youth and Cadet members reached the top four in many events with some breaking throught to claim Bronze, Sliver and GOLD!     For the first ever Irish team at an Aikido World Championships and for our small club this was to be our finest moment to date.    What a Result!  

World Champions 

Whether members on this team won medals or not, the performances of all DTA/team Éire players at this event was heroic, spoke to their dedication, their capability as world class players and above all their competitive spirit, determination and support for each other. This small team from Ireland did a phenomenal job for club and country, exceeding all expectations and winning many fans among the other nation teams and supporters. 

Honour Roll

• M.Ní Riain   -  Gold Junanhon (u16), Gold kakari geiko (u16) , Silver Individual Tai Sabaki (u16), Bronze Ninin Dori (u16) - Team Captain
• D.Conroy    -   Gold Junanahon (u16), Gold, kakari geiko (u16),  Bronze Ninin Dori (u16)
• M.Eastwood - Gold Junanhon (u19) , Gold Ninin dori (u19), Silver open kata, (u19), Silver Individual Randori (u19)
• E.Conroy -       Gold junanahon (u19),  Gold Ninin dori (u19), Silver open kata (u19)
• G.Ní Riain -     Fourth place Kakarigeiko (u13)
• D.Eastwood -  Fourth place Kakarigeiko (u13)
  
  

 

Team ÉIRE Kamon

for the WSAF Aikido World Championships 2017 - London