The Return of YOKKAO Kids - Another Resounding Success at Barnsley
YOKKAO Next Generation Kids returned to Barnsley Metrodome on February 10th, for another fun-filled day of junior Muay Thai action. The card was completely stacked with 55 pairs of bouts taking place at the show. Over a hundred young competitors arrived along with their coaches and families flocked to witness the return of YOKKAO Kids. Besides competitors from the home nation, young fighters from Holland, Germany, Cyprus, Spain and Ireland descended to take part in the event. YOKKAO junior fighters Ellie Barker and Joe Ryan both defended their titles successfully against their respective challengers. The 2 fighters put in a world class performance as the headlining acts of the show. Ellie took on her old sparring partner and good friend Anya from Steve Wright’s Erawan Gym. The fight was closely-matched but Ellie was able to secure her win with big late rounds. Joe was fresh off his silver medal win from IFMA Baltic. He took on a dangerous Kyriakos from Cyprus that resulted in a really great technical bout by the two 13 year-old lads. Like Ellie, Joe displayed exceptional ringcraft in rounds 4 and 5 to retain his YOKKAO Junior World title. A possible rematch could be in the works between the 2 amazing talents. A big winner on the night was the joint-headliner featuring Anthony Deary from Fortitudo who took on the very experienced Khalis from Cedic Muller’s 2c Academy in what many people called the fight of the night. It was a very close fight on the scorecards with Anthony just coming out on top. Another top-biller was an exceptional young ladies bout with Nawal from Team Solo coming out on top against the brilliant Konnie Grace from Erawan - this bout for the World title at -34kg. Jodie McCarthy from Ireland, who appeared on the last show, now moves up and holds the -36kg title. YOKKAO Next Generation Kids has transformed the sport of Muay Thai into a new era. The game is getting levelled across the globe and Muay Thai is shifting gears into becoming a truly globalized sport. With kids now given an international platform to compete on and wider exposure through a dedicated media channel, YOKKAO has shown its unwavering commitment to shape the future of Muay Thai. Muay Thai kids around the world deserve the exposure and YOKKAO makes sure that they get all the following and support. A complete series of Next Generation Kids events have been lined up back-to-back this year including plans to take it on an even bigger international scale. The YOKKAO Kids roadshow rolls into Scotland next on 3rd March where junior fighters from around the region compete for Anglo Scottish titles. Remember to check out the newly-added Kids events section and follow YOKKAO on social media network for more related news coverage. [caption id="attachment_4315" align="aligncenter" width="960"] YOKKAO Muay Thai Next Generation Kids[/caption]
