Hastings Muay Thai gym stars shine in Euro championships

Luke Read took a team of nine to the championships, six of them for their first tournament – and didn’t they deliver.

They won five golds and five silvers in the K1 categories and one gold in the Thai boxing against strong Dutch, Irish and home fighters.

The stand-out performance for the team was Luke Read junior with a first-round TKO in his final against a Dutch opponent in Thai boxing, earning him his first tournament gold.

Oliver Foley took another two golds in his K1 categories and Fred Harbour a silver in his K1 category.

The others making their tournament debuts were Henry Baldwin, getting a silver in a very close final, Josh Holdaway, also getting a silver after coming through a tough semi-final, and Kaleb Rose got another gold for the team with a very mature performance.

Matt Andrew got a gold and a silver against very tough, big opponents, getting his nose broken in his last final. Oli Patience got the WMTG final gold and Zac Appleyard a silver capping a great day.

Coach Luke Read said the team trained so hard in the months leading up to the tournament that they deserved and earned everything they got.

With the cost of living crisis effecting everyone Luke made a conscious decision to relocate the gym to Trojan gym at the beginning of the year so he could reduce members’ fees by a third and increase their training sessions by 40 per cent to grow the sport he lives and breathes.

This extra training and reduced fees has been very important to their success.

Although individuals have won medals this is very much a collective achievement for all members at the club as everyone has played a role in training, support and encouragement.

Luke thanked all his members and Nick Booker from Booker and Best Ltd and Lee Foley from JD Mills Ltd builders for sponsoring the team’s travel and kit.

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