Tom’s 1st round saw him face an Iranian opponent and with just over 30 seconds gone Tom scored his 1st world championship point with a Gyakusuki punch. However, his opponent quickly relied scoring his own Gyakusuki punch to level the score. Two contacts warnings for Tom’s opponent saw him regain the lead. Tom then scored a Jodan Mawashigeri kick to take a 5-1 lead to safely see off his opponent.

The 2nd saw pitted Tom against a Venezuelan opponent. Tom came out more aggressive but was counter-punched to go 1-0 down. Tom continued to push and a contact warning to the Venezuelan saw Tom level the score. As Tom continued he picked up 3 point from a Jodan Mawashigeri to go 4-1 up before sealing the fight with another Jadon Kick to win 7-1.

The 3rd round saw Tom again a Russian opponent who came out strong to dominate the fight but Tom caught him with a Gyakusuki punch to take the lead. A Jodan Mawashigeri soon followed giving Tom another 3 points. Tom scored two more Gyakusuki punches to seal a 6-0 over the Russian.

Round 4 and Tom now faced a Turkish opponent and Tom started brightly once again scoring an early Gyakusuki punch to take the lead. After Tom’s opponent received a contact warning giving Tom a point he soon double Tom’s lead being penalised once again with another contact warning. $-0 but the Turkish opponent started to close the gap scoring with a Gyakusuki punch to reduce the lead and Tom then gave away a penalty point of his own for holding but the 4-2 score line was enough to see him through.

The 5th round semi-final saw Tom in a close edgy fight against an Egyptian opponent until the Egyptian scored mid way through the fight. Tom stepped it up but his advances were halted after he was caught on the counter with a Gyakusuki punch. A Jodan Mawashigeri from his opponent saw Tom drop to 5-0 down then 6-0 as he tried to claw back the deficit. Tom did gain a consolation point with a second left on the clock but the damage had been done and now Tom was left facing one more fight for a possible bronze in the repechage final as the Egyptian booked his slot in the showcase final.

The repechage final saw Tom face an Australian opponent. There were no scores for a while in this close fight until the Australian out Gyakusuki punched Tom to go 1 point up. Tom pressed his opponent who gave away a penalty point to Tom for two successive contact warnings. Tom then stole the lead scoring with his own Gyakusuki punch before he seal his bronze medal scoring a final Jodan Mawashigeri kick in the dying seconds to seal a 5-1 win. BRONZE!!!!

Comments

Training has been really enjoyable the whole squad has got on very well. The coaches have been really helpful and have worked really hard to make sure we do the best we can.
Tom Hickman