Bronze for Brakpan kick boxer
Ryan Phillips, Brakpan resident and Xtreme Kickboxing Technologies (XKT) kickboxer, has done his nation proud with a stellar performance for South Africa at the Sportaccord World Combat Games (IOC), in St Petersburg, Russia, from Friday, October 18, to Saturday, October 26.
The 20-year-old put on a brave showing to earn a bronze medal at the tournament.
The games pit the best of the best in combat sports against each other and attract 1 300 athletes in 15 different combat sports.
Phillips was part of a team of four South Africans who flew the flag at the games.
Compatriots Nadia Byatte and Sufyaan Morat, from Lenasia, also returned home with bronze medals in the bag.
On the tatami, the XKT fighter competed in the u-63kg men’s point fighting class and managed to get to the semi-finals, where he was beaten by Hungarian favourite Richard Veres.
Phillips said that the achievement is his proudest moment in the sport and he will look to learn from the experience that he gained at the games when he takes part in the WAKO Irish Open International, one the most prestigious martial arts tournaments in Europe, in February, next year.
Before that, however, the fighter will, from January next year, compete in numerous tournaments in England for two months, to gain vital international experience.
“I am planning on fighting nine different tournaments a month and t get a foot in the door for fellow South African fighters to compete at a competitive international level,” said Phillips.
His father and team SA coach, Raymond Phillips, who is also a world champion in the sport, also attended the games, and said that things went well despite a lack of financial support from the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC).
Commenting on the tournament, he said: “Only the best of the best take part in the games, so we are proud of our three medals.
“We were somewhat of an unknown quantity there, but now the kickboxing world has definitely taken notice of South Africa.”
