North West Shotokan Karate Club enjoyed tremendous success at the recent International competition in Carlow. 
Fourteen students from NWSKC, along with their coach, Sensei Mandy McNulty, travelled to Carlow for the annual two-day event, which took place on Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th October.
Assisting Sensei McNulty in coaching duties were senior club members Ciara Dullaghan and Emer Dullaghan.
The popular competition in Carlow this year attracted teams from all across Ireland, from England, Scotland and Wales, as well as competitors from as far away as the Czech Republic, Austria and Georgia.
The event got underway on Saturday, with Eimear Lafferty and Emma Ellis representing NWSKC in the under-14 year olds’ competition.
Eimear competed strongly as usual and narrowly missed out on a medal in her kata event, coming fourth in her category.
Eimear was selected to fight in the ultimate kumite event as a member of the ‘Rest of the World’ team (age group 12-13 years) against the hosts, Carlow.
She fought bravely until an injury forced her out of the competition, nevertheless achieving a well-deserved silver medal.
Emma was on top form, out-performing all competitors in her category in kumite to win the gold medal.
Emma also competed on the Rest of the World team against Carlow in the 8-11 years old category, aiding the team to victory and securing another gold.
On Sunday the over-14 year-old students took to the mats, with juniors, cadets and seniors all competing.
The cadets began the day very well, with success for Sloan O’Donnell, Emer Dullaghan and Adam Byrne who lifted silver medals in their team kata.
Adam then surpassed this performance, by winning the gold in a brilliant team effort alongside Laura Browne and Elaine Dullaghan.
Not to be outdone, sisters Ciara, Emer and Elaine Dullaghan then produced a top-class team performance to retain their title from last year and win gold in the Senior Ladies Team Kata event.
These strong performances set the tone for what turned out to be a memorable day in Carlow, with the medal tally growing steadily as the individual kata competitions progressed:
Adam Byrne added to his personal tally by winning gold in his category, with teammate, Stephen John Carlin taking the silver; similarly, Isobel Walsh achieved the gold, with Saoirse Kelly lifting the silver; Kyle Gamble and Elaine Dullaghan both added gold medals for their kata performances, while Ciara Dullaghan and Emer Dullaghan achieved the silver and bronze respectively in their category.
The individual kumite events saw many of the NWSKC students fighting their way into medal-winning positions, with gold for Ciara Dullaghan and Elaine Dullaghan, silver for Sloan O’Donnell, Adam Byrne, Laura Browne and Saoirse Kelly and bronze for Dillon O’Loughlin, Kyle Gamble and Sloan O’Donnell.
To crown an exceptional day, NWSKC students, Isobel and Saoirse, Ciara and Sloan, were selected to fight in the ‘Rest of the World’ teams, at Cadet and Senior level respectively, and all fought with great credit.
The Cadets secured the silver in their event. The Senior International team, coached by the North West’s Sensei Mandy McNulty, all performed exceptionally to win the gold and the Team Captain Sloan O’Donnell was presented with the perpetual shield.
Overall, it was a very successful day for the club.
The final medal tally was an amazing 19 gold, 18 silver and 4 bronze medals, bringing great credit to the club and to coach Mandy McNulty and bringing a total of 41 medals home to the north-west.