Brashaw claims European gold at last
12 April 2010by mizukara
The listing was posted by Mizukara
Northern Ireland’s most successful karate athlete, David Brashaw from Newtownards has just added a European title to his achievements. At the World Union of Karate-Do Federations European Championships, in Santarem City, Portugal from Friday 9 – Sunday 11 April, David was delighted to scoop the gold in the veteran’s kata section.
David commented 'I am over the moon to get a European title at last. Even though I have won World titles, a European win has always eluded me. In the final my main opponent was the 2008 European champion Fabien Jovelin from France. I knew he would do a good kata, so I did not watch. I stayed focused and went for a safe but strong performance. I had no idea at any time of Fabien’s marks and was delighted the judges scored me the winner.'
David was doubly please when he and teammates Sam and Kevin Lewis also collected a European bronze in the wado-ryu team kata event and Sam added a further bronze in his sparring event. Karate England coach Ian Cuthbert added 'This was a fantastic championship for these athletes. Two years ago they collected one medal in Belgium. To get five medals this year is the result of a lot of serious hard work. They have really put Northern Ireland karate on the world map.'