Kian McCarton Wins Strawweight Gold for Ireland on Day 5 of European Championships

Day 4 & 5 of the European Championships saw three Irish fighters in action. For two of them it wasn’t their day on Day 4. However, Kian McCarton got the Irish cheering on Day 5, when he secured gold after an impressive performance. McCarton looked sharp on the feet, but his grappling gave him the edge over his Ukrainian opponent. The SBG Ireland representative competed at two IMMAF competitions to date with little success but looked a different fighter in there.

On Day 4 Ireland had their first fighter stand on the podium on the day as Jordan Scully was rewarded with bronze for his efforts. Fighting out of SBG Tullamore, Scully went 1-1 over the tournament and gained some vital experience as he continues to round out his game.

Ronan Deegan secured bronze for Ireland after beating much bigger opponents across two days before losing out in the semi-final to the undefeated George Staines. Winning bronze is a serious achievement given the fact he’s competing at much higher weight class than he’s used to.

Keith Keogh was in one of the best fights of the tournament against Israel’s Moshe Aladi. The semi-final bout on Day 4 came down to a razor thin split decision, but it wasn’t meant to be for the C-MAC fighter. He still walks away with a bronze medal for his efforts after showing just how good he is over the last few days.

Ireland finishes the tournament with four medals in total, maybe not the results they expected but still a positive week for the team.

Medalists are as follows:

Jordan Scully – Junior Welterweight Bronze

Ronan Deegan – Senior Lightweight Bronze

Keith Keogh – Senior Featherweight Bronze

Kian McCarton – Senior Strawweight Gold