Top fighters from two Teesside gyms were among the stars who shone brightest as the area enjoyed a sensational debut at the Unified Kickboxing World Championships.
Cleveland Gym’s Steve Raybould celebrated a hat-trick of world title wins this year as the recently crowned IKF and WKA world champion struck cadet lightweight gold in Tuscany, Italy.
And Caitlin Chapman claimed four of the six gold medals which Impact Martial Arts won in their superb 10-medal haul in Carrara.
Raybould stopped opponents from Belgium and Ukraine to celebrate his latest success, as the World Kickboxing Association brought together around 4,000 fighters from 38 different world federations over six days of ring and mat-based action.
The 18-year-old’s teammate Amy Cookson was a cadet lightweight silver medallist, while their younger clubmate Francis Conlin, 14, lost in the first phase to a Russian who went on to win 45 kilo silver.
Cleveland Gym coach Ron Gray said: “Steven’s gold put the finishing touch to a fantastic year for him.
“He stopped the Belgian lad with an uppercut and won the final with a left high kick.
“Amy had a straight final and it was a case of what you preferred. She was pressing forward, and the Irish girl was countering on the back foot.
“The judges seemed to like her long jab and front kick.”
He added: “Francis was very unlucky with the draw.
“I watched the rest of the group and he would have won a medal with a different draw, without a doubt.
“The Russian was all arms and legs and went on to lose to a Welsh lad in the final.
“But it was a great experience for us all to go to a tournament that size.”
South Bank gym Impact’s double digit return was also a family affair for most of those involved.
Caitlin Chapman’s four light contact golds arrived in two weight divisions (50 & 55kg) in both the ring and on the mats.
The 15-year-old’s father Alan struck 89kg light contact gold in the ring, as did Paul Morris in the 80kg division.
Caitlin’s sister Casey, 13, won 55kg light contact silver in the ring.
And there were bronze medals for 16-year-old Ben Exley (54kg light contact in the ring; 54kg full contact) and 10-year-old Macauley Morris, Ben Morris’ son (30kg light contact, mats).
Senior club coach Alan Chapman said: “We couldn’t have asked for any more than 10 medals and six golds on our Unifieds debut.
“We didn’t expect to do so well to be honest.
“A couple of our kids qualified through the South Tyneside Open and we didn’t know what to expect because of the calibre of people who were there.
“So for the six of us to come back with medals is fantastic for our club.
“We will definitely be back for more in future.”
Alan also thanked everyone who helped make Impact’s trip to Tuscany possible.
He added: “You name it, we organised it to raise enough funds to go to the World Championships.
“We did discos, raffles, tombolas the lot and owe a big thanks to everyone who helped and supported us.”
Caitlin Chapman will try to continue Impact’s roll when she fights for a WTKA world title on December 6.
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