Looking to kick the competition to the curb
Nelson Kickboxers Summer Puklowski (17), Lily Sinclair, coach Sallie McArdle and Miiguel Nunez (Absent: Joseph Hill) are enroute to Europe ahead of taking on some of the world’s best. Photo: Jack Malcolm.
Four local fighters and their coach left for Europe over the weekend ahead of competing in the Hungarian Kickboxing World Cup.
With over 3500 fighters already registered for the event, it’s the biggest and hardest competition the local kickboxers, Lily Sinclair and Miiguel Nunez, will have competed in after fighting in the Amateur World Championships last year.
For Summer Puklowski (17) and Joseph Hill (16), it will be their first taste of the international level.
Coach Sallie McArdle says it’s a definite step up in competition, with open grades and fighters out for World Cup points.
“This trip is really preparation for Worlds next year.
“My guys are going to be the least experienced there. They can’t do anything but improve.”
Sallie says the team is at a disadvantage to the European fighters who can fight at an event every other weekend, with the local and national scene just not big enough for regular competition.
Alongside competing in the World Cup, the local fighters will also complete a six-day training camp with 150 fighters in Sicily, train with one of the top Italian coaches in Venice and spend four days in Dublin with the Irish team coaches.
This time around, the team will be completing the camps after they have fought in their event instead of doing it before like they did last year.
“The pressure of competition, that’s going to be over this time,” says Sallie.
“They now know what it’s about.”
For Summer, a brand new passport was in order with the trip being her first time out of the country.
She and Joseph will both compete in the novice and advanced categories because of their age, with Sallie saying they have a “really good chance” of doing well.
Sallie has also been impressed with the improvements of Lily, who she called a “completely different fighter” since this time last year.
While Miiguel will be hoping to take as many learnings as he can ahead of his first professional K1 fight in August, held locally.
With the local fighters only competing in one of four events on the World Cup calendar, they are not in the hunt for an overall title.