Today saw the final bouts of the tournament with young athletes competing for gold, silver and bronze medals in Bangkok for the finals of the youth muaythai tournament.
It’s difficult to pick a highlight, but among the stand-out bouts were:
In Ring C, Australian Erin Harberger took on Liane C Benito from The Philippines in a blistering bout which saw both girls pushing hard from the start. Both federation heads Pearl Manoguelod and Peter Boyd joined the supporters in trying to get that extra energy out of the athletes, and Erin took the win on points.
The first medal ceremony was in 45kg and saw Portugal’s Joanna Alvez take gold, silver to Rudza Abubaker from The Philippines.
Another great bout was in Ring A between Berat Cuhadar from Turkey and Aleh Likhtarovich, Belarus at 71g. Aleh relied on powerful spinning back kicks, and a fast grab-and-sweep move while Berat used a solid long-teep kick to stay safe for much of the bout. Belarus however won convincingly.
In the 75kg girls Natasha Wihangi from New Zealand took on Kuzama Matchimarat from Thailand a close final bout, which went to Thailand.
One Australian family had a good day at the office with twins Sophie and Emma Curtin, as well as their brother Bradley all medalling for the Land Down Under.
An epic battle hit Ring B when Moldova’s Liviv Titica faced Jersadophon from Thailand at 71kg. A good win for Moldova, a small team who came to Bangkok with great heart and determination!
It seemed like the bouts would go forever but then all of a sudden the announcer was calling the final bout and it all over for another year.
The young athletes and their supporters headed back to the hotel for a Gala party and awards ceremony.
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