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The third day of the IMMAF European Championships has wrapped up and it’s been another strong team performance from England.
Twelve athletes were competing, making it the most active day so far for the team. A number of semi-final spots were claimed, meaning Team England has won at least 8 medals.
Jack Humphries was first up this morning in a semi-final bout. He lost to a strong Austrian opponent via unanimous decision. Jack is now an IMMAF European bronze medallist.
Jordan Molinari then made the walk for his first bout of the competition. Jordan made short work of his opponent, and passionately described his performance:
“I went full Rodtang and went head, head, body, body and he dropped from it. Dan Cassell shouted at me ‘10 seconds left’. So I postured up, got a bit of space and kept cracking him in the nugget.”
Jordan won via first-round TKO, winning a place in the semi-finals tomorrow.
Jake Stark lost to Ireland’s Keith Keogh. Keith skillfully took Jake’s back and sunk in a rear-naked choke, winning via submission in the first round.
Hardy-Wallhead’s Jack Henshall then faced a Ukrainian opponent who used his wrestling well to win the fight via unanimous decision. Team Ukraine have been excellent so far in the tournament.
Aaron Givens also lost via decision to a strong grappler.
Teddy Stringer then went to war with a heavy-handed Bulgarian athlete, losing a unanimous decision.
George Staines faced one of the best grapplers in the competition, Ze Machado, and narrowly won via split decision. George said:
“Each fight I’m learning. I got dropped with a right-hand yesterday, I was taken to a split decision today – that’s never happened to me before. I’ve never had a close fight. So every second I’m learning something new which is what I want.”
George is now in the semi-finals, so will go home with at least a bronze medal.
Mitchell Goode then won in the first round via rear-naked choke. He is in the Light-Heavyweight semi-finals.
Heavyweight Owen Cartridge lost via TKO to an experienced Slovenian athlete.
The ladies followed, and all three won their bouts.
Kelly Staddon dominated her Italian opposition, winning via unanimous decision. She’s in the semi-finals of the Strawweight division, guaranteeing a medal.
Lisa Zimmo had a tough match-up and had to work hard for her unanimous decision win. She said:
“I’m very grateful that I got a very tough opponent. I do like those kind of fights because they’re the real test.”
And added that to be the European Champion “would mean everything. I don’t think anyone in here is better than me so I’m going to show them what I’ve got.”
Finally, Millie-Rae Vardy showed her incredible spirit, winning via split decision. Millie won the first round, lost the second, and dug deep to win the third to have her hand raised.
In an emotional post-fight interview (for all of us), Millie had some moving words to share:
“I’ve had some issues with believing in myself. I think everyone does. Everyone puts on that bravado. Obviously, you’ve got to be confident, but you don’t see the vulnerable side to people in this sport… I’ve had a really big struggle in believing in myself recently so to be here at the European Championships with the best amateurs in Europe and get the win just means the world.”
Team England have already secured the biggest-ever medal haul for an English squad and we still have two days of competition to go.
Full results:
Jack Humphries L via decision
Jordan Molinari W via TKO
Jake Stark L via submission
Jack Henshall L via decision
Aaron Givens L via decision
Teddy Stringer L via decision
George Staines W via decision
Mitchell Goode W via submission
Owen Cartridge L via TKO
Millie-Rae Vardy W via decision
Kelly Staddon W via decision
Lisa Zimmo W via decision
