2008 University Championships - Kent

Congratulations to all!

Saraansh Dave
2008 British Universities Featherweight Champion

Alex Baneke
2008 British Universities Middleweight Champion

Alicia Dussart
2008 British Universities Featherweight Champion

Cicelly Marshall
2008 British Universities Featherweight Runner-up

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“This is a great achievement for our club, and reflects the hard work our fighters put in.  We have only been running just over 2 years, but having taken more titles than any other Uni, are now the most successful university kickboxing club in the country.”      - Zac Etheridge

Cicelly Marshall
Commended by two referees as the most skillful fighter at the tournament.  Featherweight southpaw worked behind her lead leg side kick and jab to take control of both her preliminary bouts, and repeatedly landed lead leg round kicks to the head and body.  Met Alicia Dussart in a very close all Oxford final.

Alicia Dussart
Southpaw fighter who punches way above her weight, doesn’t know how to go backwards, outworked both her opponents in the preliminary rounds to meet Cicelly Marshall in an all Oxford final.

James Richardson
Won convincingly in the first round of a very competitive weight class.  His second fight went to a 3rd round as the first 2 were too close to call. In spite of landing the cleaner shots, after considerable deliberation by the referee and judge, the fight was awarded against him.

Borna Gueval
Unlucky to lose in the first round.  Clearly landed more techniques than his opponent, but the ref seemed to have taken a disliking to Oxford.  The slogan for tournament was “ come and beat up posh people from Oxford and Cambridge” and perhaps the ref didn’t like the fact Oxford were winning so much...

Adam Dathi
Excellent technical first round, but his opponent was slightly fitter in the second round and just clinched it, but a good learning experience in his first fight.

Saraansh Dave
Two excellent technical fights to win the title.  Working behind his side kick, Dave moved in and out to convincingly out-point his first opponent.  The final was tight but again Dave worked behind his side kick, and landed several excellent right hand counters.  He clinched it in the final round with a flurry of hooks which his opponent had no reply for.

Steve Thompson
Very determined fighter, kept coming forward to outwork his first opponent.  He looked the stronger fighter in the final working behind his jab and landing several hard rights to send his southpaw opponent reeling, but the judges asked for a third round.  Steve dug in for the deciding round, landing several hard round kicks to his opponent body to clinch the title.

Alex Baneke
1st fight – Alex looked unbeatable, landing multiple right hands and round kicks which his opponent has no answer for. In the 2nd round he switched to working his jab and front kick to take and easy win.  His 2nd fight was harder, with both fighters landing techniques frequently.  The judge called for a third round and Bk opened it up, showing his superior fitness to clinch it.  His third fight was quite straight forward to take him into the final, where he again worked behind his jab and front kick, intermittently coming in to work the body, and landing a lovely left hook body – right hook head combination which had his opponent in trouble. He thoroughly deserved the title, having fought 4 fights and 11 rounds in the day. 

Photos courtesy of Sarah Parlour