A crowd in excess of 400 attended the grand slam featuring the Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales Ladies and Mens Senior team kumite tournament in DCU on the 19th of September.

The event kicked off at 11:30am and first up were the ladies displaying great skill and strong techniques. Due to injuries the Scottish team were unable to attend so it was left up to the three nations to battle for the honors. The organizers decided to allow each country to fight each other twice and awarded three points for a win and one for a draw, so the maximum number of points available was 36.

The English team proved to be strongest on the day winning with a score of 20 points leaving Ireland and Wales tied at 14 points each.

Ladies coach Paul Brennan was disappointed, and said "We started slowly, gaining only four points from the first six fights. We came back well, taking 10 points in the last two rounds. The fact that we were winning the third fight in our first round 5- 2 with 20 seconds left and lost 4 scores turned the whole event. If we had won that fight we would have been level with the English. However I could'nt ask more of the athletes who have worked hard all year, and have dedicated themselves to training, and have represented their country with pride. We are competing in the Banzai Cup next week Oct 2nd in Berlin, and then on to the Belgian Open on the 7th of November. We have had a very full programme this year, but the exposure to the major events acts as an incentive to train and helps with performance targets and goals".

The crowd had to endure a short break while the officials took time for lunch, but it was worth the wait, with Vincent O'Hora, the team captain, opening up a lead for the Irish Men's team with a superb demonstration of lightning fast attacks, and counter punching, he certainly benefited from his week in Estonia. Most people have holidays but top athletes have training camps. As they say a good start is half the battle. Round one ended level, Ireland 7 Scotland 7.

In the second match Ireland pulled ahead taking 10 points off the English team to put us in pole position as we went to the final round against Wales who had 13 points. The second place team were England on 20 points, leaving Ireland needing just 5 points to ensure victory, and they did so in style winning two of their first four fights. In the final bout of the day Ronan Flynn had the crowd out of their feet with a spectacular 11 points to 2 win over his opponent.

Derek Desmond national coach was delighted for not only the team, but for all who had supported the event and was happy that so many people could share in such a great spectacle, and witness such a prestigious victory.

Mens Team : Vincent O'Hora, Gordon Smyth, Gareth Flynn, Mark Sheridan, Kieran Noone, Ronan Flynn.

Ladies Team : Ruth Smyth, Sorcha Mc Corry, Emily Geraghty, Karen Dolphin.