On the 17^th and 18^th May, 5 players from the Northern Ireland Talent Development Squad headed to East London, to compete in the London Open.

The London Open was held in the UEL Sportsdock this year. The pools of players were amongst the highest amounts for any events this year, so every placing was fought for and earned.

Noted in the competition calendar, the London Open is a prestigious and high-level event, attracting not only players from the Home Nations, but from Europe and as one of our players found out further afield, including Cameroon.

All 5 players gave a fantastic account of themselves and will be leaving, with not only the experience of the event but medals and ranking points on the BJA lists.

The results are as follows:

• Robert U73 Cadet won silver
• Aodhan U81 Cadet won bronze
• Conall U73 Junior & Senior 5^th
• Ewan U66 Senior 5^th
• Cliodhna U57 Cadet 7^th

Lead Performance Coach, Sarah Barritt said:

“Again, the NI players stepped up to the mark and proved they can mix it with the best of the best, and they can medal as well.

The 5^th placed fighters were both very unlucky not to get to the medal stages, but I can’t fault them on their performance and the account they gave of themselves.

Cliodhna did very well against a strong field of female athletes, and we’re delighted at the medals that Aodhan and Robert are bringing back across the water.

Next, we review our performances and go back to our Pathway sessions to keep improving on the foundations we have in place.”

The players also had their medals presented to them, by 2 x Olympian Shohei Ono and all the players got to have a picture with him as the icing on the cake for a great weekend.

Congratulations to the players and we look forward to seeing what’s next for the Pathway and Talent Development Squad.