IFMA World Championships 2007

2007 World Muaythai Championships – One Week To Go!!


The world’s biggest Muaythai Championships are only a week away. The event kicks off on the 27th of November and will run until the 5th of December, with the finals held at Sanam Luang in celebration of HM the King’s 80th birthday.
This year’s event, organised under the banner of WMC (World Muaythai Council) and IFMA (International Federation of Muaythai Amateur, will be the biggest single sporting event ever held in Thailand. The event will take place in the events hall at Fashion Island with athletes battling it out simultaneously in three different rings.

100 countries are expected to participate with more than 2,000 athletes and officials traveling to Bangkok to be a part of it.

Since Muaythai was included in the General Association of International Sports Federations, partner of the IOC, the popularity of the sport has grown exponentially. When The Contender Muaythai reality show, produced by Mark Burnett Productions and Imagine OmniMedia, sanctioned by the WMC hits the airwaves in January 2008, Muaythai will be taken directly into 74 million households and 200 million viewers… a huge promotion for the sport.

This year’s championship is a very special one as it is a recognized Royal Thai Government Project, held in celebration of His Majesty’s 80th Birthday. The final on the 5th of December will be followed by the opening of the SEA Games, in which Muaythai is included as a full medal sport for both males and females, also under the sanctioning of IFMA and FAMA, capping off 2007 as another huge year for Muaythai.

With 100 countries sending official national teams to the 2007 World Championships under WMC and IFMA, Muaythai is now a serious contender to become an Olympic sport.

Results and Photos will be posted daily on www.ifmamuaythai.org

Without a doubt this is a huge event and cannot wait to see the fights!

HI

The weigh in is today - right now for B div, junior and womans tomorrow morning for the A div


Everyone is looking great!!


THe NZ team all on form and weighed in except for our 3 A div fighters

Good luck to everyone

Sue

The world’s biggest Muaythai Championship has begun - the IFMA Championships

Over 1,200 athletes, coaches and representatives of 100 Muaythai countries marched into Thailand for the biggest single sporting event ever staged in the Kingdom. To the cheers of a packed stadium, the teams made a colorful entrance with national dress and large delegations from all five continents.

Large teams from Brazil, USA, Canada, Russia, Ukraine, Poland, England, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa – the list goes on and on – filled the ground floor area of the stadium.

The representative of the Royal Household opened the event and present also was the Privy Councilor to His Majesty the King of Thailand as the event will be held in honor of His Majesty’s 80th birthday.

The event, which was televised live, made news all over Thailand as the Thai people proudly welcomed all the delegates from around the globe.

The event will go on for the next nine days, concluding in the final held outside the Grand Palace with an estimated audience of over 300,000 people.

The opening day saw some world class performances and the fights will be held in three boxing rings with over 100 fights per day for the duration of the tournament.

Photos and updates will be posted daily on www.ifmamuaythai.org

Day 2 - IFMA World Championships in Full Gear

Day 2 of the IFMA World Championships saw 98 bouts in three rings with juniors, females and males battling it out to make it into the second round of the competition. The arena at Fashion Island was packed to bursting point and the atmosphere was electrifying with 9 hours of nonstop Muaythai action.

The junior fights showed that the future of Muaythai looks bright as juniors from five continents fought for fame and glory, much to the delight of the audience. Ring two was all female fights, with girls from Australia, Finland, USA, Hong Kong, Sweden, Canada and many other countries showing that girls can be as or even more exciting than their male counterparts.

The centre ring was all male and really had the audience on their feet with some narrow margin fights and some great performances by the Muaythai powerhouses and some big upsets from the upcoming countries.

Day 3 is set to begin tomorrow morning with 116 fights also across the male, female, junior male and junior female divisions for the last qualifying round.

Full details of all fight results will be on the official website www.ifmamuaythai.org soon, stay tuned for the next day of the biggest World Championships ever staged in the history of Muaythai.

Sao,

Thanks for the information, please keep us updated.

I am especially interested in the Turkish team, as we have them scheduled against English athletes after the IFMA's on the 8th December, in Birmingham ( England ) at an I.K.F. Amateur Championships.

www.aka-england.org

Does anyone have complete details of the IFMA England team?

Names and Weights and Gyms.

I can't seem to find anything online.

Thanks,

Dunno about England but Irish lineup is as follows:

TEAM OFFICALS
Mr. Craig O'Flynn Cork
Ms. Vanichia Phakham thailand
Mr Richard Moore Dundalk
Mr Ivan Glavey Longford
Mr Frank Mc Convile Belfast

FIGHTERS
Mr Jamie Crawford Belfast
Mr Victor Grekker Cork
Mr Steven Hodger Dundalk
Mr Alan Lee Longford
Mr Alan Flynn Sligo
Ms Loriane Horgan Cork

i think Rungchai was helping out with the England team-can't remember who's in it though

dave fensom was in the england 63.5 division, few minotaur lads in there, i think ralph beale is in charge of english lot.

Terry Anderson, James Ryder, Davie and Lanchana Green are there from our gym.

If anyone can give a more accurate list, it would be appreciated.

Name, Weight/Division, Gym

Many thanks for the info though.

Fingers crossed for some medals then, England and Ireland!

the website is actually being updated pretty well...

http://www.ifmamuaythai.org/index.php

can anyone tell me what the acronyms in the results columns stand for? I deduced that WP is winner points, but I can't figure the rest out...

Thanks!

Good luck to Loopy Lou and Paul Grant!

louise won today v Belarus on points, Paul faces south african tommorrow,

Minotaur Gym Fighters

Chris Knowles - Superheavyweight A Class - previous Gold medallist
Lyndon Knowles - Superheavyweight B Class - First time in Championships
Ian Coe - Lightheavyweight B Class - previous Silver medalist
Charlie Gillespe - Light Middleweight B Class - First time in Championships


12 others from the gym going out and supporting and then onto WMC Lamai Gym Koh Samui for some fun and sun!


Good luck Boys and Girls and have a great time

GO NEW ZEALAND!!
All the best to the team, keep the updates coming...

I just read that Kiwis Pumipi Ngarona (by TKO) and Cody Temura (points) both won there first bouts. Hard luck to Shannon Wilson who lost on points in a very close contest.

Wee Paul won 4rd TKO

November 29th was the third day of the largest Amateur MuayThai gathering yet. With three rings in action, the audience was treated to 90 fights with boxers from all over world competing.

Highlights included the female card in Ring A including Thailand taking on Portugal in an exciting battle and Poland vs Canada drawing the crowd to their feet. The A-class fights really showed how far Amateur MuayThai has come with one action-packed fight following another. Countries like France and Kazakhstan keeping up their high standards , smaller MuayThai countries like Cyprus also made their mark , moving their boxers onto the next round.

In the junior ring, Kazakhstan and Belarus, 37kgs took centre stage with an incredible display of skill from two teenage boxers, neither giving an inch. 35 countries sent juniors, male and female – a great sign for the future of the sport.

In the B-ring, out of many great fights - Canada and Hong Kong at 63.5 kgs was a close fight that brought the Hong Kong and Chinese contingent to their feet, Canada taking the victory.

The super heavyweight division saw Australia and Holland battling it out, the Dutch boxer weighing in at 210 kgs , both fighters giving it their all for the 4 rounds. Followed by an exciting fight between New Zealand and Iran.

Huge levels of support from countries like Kazakhstan and Ukraine really added to the atmosphere with flags, drums and chanting echoing around the stadium.

The fights started at 1pm and continued until 21.30 without a break!

Are there many 'PRO' fighters in this championships?

Sorry, could I rephrase.

Does anyone know what the criteria is, regarding Amateur Status or Pro. Status for the IFMA championships, and what experience would exclude a Pro. athlete from competing.

u cant fight if you have been ranked at lumpini or raja then ur classed as pro

WELL DONE Paul Grant &Louise keep up the good work; GOOD LUCK for the rest of the IFMA Championships.respect finnie

I thought the criteria was tighter than that, thanks for the info.

Yes!! Well done wee Paul and Louise, brilliant stuff.

England team IFMA championships 2007 are as follows

Acting president-Ralph Beale (Watford and Koh Samui)
Team Manager-Paul Hamilton (Darlington)
Coaches-Stuart Holden (Carlisle)
Saeed Adam (Blackburn)
Rick Lewis (Prestwick)
Bill Heron (Liverpool)
Rungchi Makate (WMC camp Samui)

Fighters A class-Terry Anderson 67KG (Darlington boxing and MA)
Terry Etim 71 KG (LIVERPOOL Koabon)
Tony Bassnett 75KG (Liverpool Koabon)
Christain Knowles 91KG (Watford Minotaurs)


Fighters B class-Adam Smith 54KG (Carlisle muay thai)
Dave Cunlife 63.5KG (Darlington)
Gregg Servers 67KG (Liverpool)
Peter Dewhurst 71KG (Shin Durai Blackburn)
James Ryder 75KG (Darlington)
Ian Coe (81KG) (Minotaurs)
Lyndon Knowles 91+KG(Minotaurs)

Female- Lanchana Green 51KG (Darlington)

Junior male-Wayne Fisher 60KG (Carlisle)

Reserve fighters- Noel Kerns 71KG
Charlie Gilespie 75KG
Dave Fensom 63.5KG

Assitance coaches- Andrew Jones
Kenny Walker
Mohame Mall
Zubear Issap

Thanks to master sken and all the UKMF members for holding this years eliminator bouts earlier in the year to select the team. We look forward to returning to England with many medals and to select next years team for the IFMA championships

hey stu!! How is How has Tez and Lanch done??

That didnt make much sense, I got a bit excited!! It was meant to say...
Hi Stu How is it going? How is everyone doing? Spoke to Michael the other day but he didnt say much other than Davie and James are out, Tez got through and Lanch hadnt fought yet?? How is every one else doing??

Liam R is correct, there are professional K-1 champions, with over 100 fights, (I spoke to one)fighting in that tournament. Most countries send their very best pro, or A-class fighters(and they fight in full gear). The USA is one of the only countries that sends true amateurs, with a majority of the team that have had as little as 2 and 3 fights.

Hope the team is doing well! When are te next ifma championships?

Same rule applies to all the amateurs competitions in Thailand! Unless you are ranked in the lumpini or the rajadam you are classed as an amateur regardless of status in your own country, in europe or around the world for that matter!

Just Heard that all 4 Minotaur lads won today - good start for England

Hi Sam both Terry and Lanch got beat yesterday but the decision against Lanch was a very bad 1 myself Paul and all the team thought that she had done enough to win. 2 of the Lads from liverpool are in action today and have both got hard fights 1 of them from Iran and the other from Russia will let you know how they get on.

Wee Paul won again today, thats both Him and Louise garuanted bronze medals. happy days!!!!

I am sure they'll be bringing more than Bronze's back mate.

cheers

Oh man!was it a hard fight?? Hope she is OK!! WELL DONE TO EVERYONE THERE!!

Are you going to Samui afterwards? (I know we already had this conversation...?)

Well Done Paul and Louise!!

I wish I was there!!

DAY 4 – THE COMPETITION HEATS UP

Day 4 saw another big day of Muaythai with 100 fights in three rings and the stadium again packed to the bursting point with teams from around the world and an enthusiastic Thai crowd.

Among the highlight fights of the day were 67kg division, with Thailand vs France which had the crowd on its feet to the last point, Thailand taking home a close decision. Sweden and Italy was another highlight of the 67kg division, with Sweden taking the decision. Other 67kg division winners were Belarus, Greece and Ukraine.

In the 86kg division, one of the highlights was Australia vs France, which saw a world class fight with Australia winning the points decision. Another great fight saw Turkey and England square off in the 91kg division, England winning the decision.

The future of Muaythai looks very bright, as the junior division received standing ovations from the stadium. China defeated Latvia, Australia defeated India, Russia defeated Venezuela, Singapore defeated Denmark – the list of junior competitors goes on and on.

The female fights had with no doubt one of the highlight fights of the day, with South Africa taking the win over England. Other highlights saw USA defeat Turkey, Thailand defeat Sweden, New Zealand defeat Mexico, Thailand defeat Belarus and Sweden defeat Australia.

This years World Championships made news again on all front pages as Thailand is rightfully proud, with 100 countries participating in the biggest single sporting event ever held in the Kingdom.

The fights are heating up to the quarter finals, and many sporting personalities from around the world, including the President of GAISF and Chairman of the Coordinating Committee of the 2008 Olympic Games and many IOC members will be part of the finals. This shows that Muaythai and IFMA are truly world recognised.

Stay tuned for day 5, with 98 second quarter final fights, and all updates on www.ifmamuaythai.org

Are the actual results for each fight up for day 3 & 4 yet? If not when will they be? Thanks

Day 5 was full of action as the IFMA World Championships moved towards the quarter final fights.

The arena was packed yet again with flag waving spectators and a very vocal Thai audience throughout the 90 thrilling bouts in the three rings.

The women stole the show with some very impressive Muaythai action between Lim Su from Korea and Angelik from Thailand, which was a nail biting fight, both girls standing toe to toe, Korea winning a very close points decision, showing that female Muaythai has won the audiences heart.

Another highlight was Poland vs Venezuela which went to a split points decision to Venezuela, proving that South America is ready to face the European powerhouses. In the 57kg division, it was Australia vs Finland and that was another highlight, with Finland taking another very close points decision.

In the junior division were some great fights, with Australia winning against Ukraine. China showed that their youth work has paid off, winning against Uzbekistan and Israel, Brazil defeated Austria, Portugal defeated Turkey and Cyprus defeating Singapore just to name a few.

Ring A was full of action packed fights, where the best of the best squared off. Some of the highlight fights saw France defeat Kazakhstan, and with no doubt one of the highlights of the 57kg division was Sweden vs Thailand which had the stadium roaring, Thailand taking a very close decision. In other top fights, Belarus defeated Finland and Germany defeated Brazil.

Tomorrow will be the first semi final day for some divisions and 98 fights on the card.

Full results will be published on the IFMA site after the Championships, stay tuned for all the action from the biggest Muaythai World Championships in the history of the sport.

Thanks for the photos, but I would rather see who fought in each ring, at what weight, and who won each fight.

It will be posted tomorrow.

well done Stevie, and a big well done to paul & Loppy Lou any news on Krab & his team Respect to all finnie

Well done Paul and Louise, really pleased for you & gutted I'm not there, I always enjoy the Champ's! I seen the results so far, no shortage of top fighters wanting to be part of it. Think Wee Paul has Latvia tomorrow, i'm sure u'll make the final mate & if not too many knocks, u'll bring back Gold! Not sure who Lou is against or when, but best of luck to both of u's & all the UK fighters for that matter!

The IMC/WMC Irish team is out of the Completion this year, we only had a few new boxer fighting this year due to it been a bad time of the year for many of our boxers to travel to Thailand, The Event is huge this year with over 100 countries taken part making Completion very high standard in A and the B class, and a lot of credit must go to the WMC/IFMA for making this Event such a huge Success
The England & the Scotland Team still has a few Boxers in and doing well so best of luck to you guys, we have Jamie Crawford fighting on the Kings Birthday Pro Show on the 5th of Dec
In the Super 8 Tournament we are still waiting on the Draw to be made so will post details as we get them this is a big Chance for Jamie to put his name on the world stage so we wish him the Best of Luck

sam already been out to Samui as i have been out here since the 16th november but hope to see you in BKK when you arrive i think Micheals fight could be on quite late so may be able to make it.

Stu -Just stay another couple of days, you don't need to come back!!
Thats what I like to hear!! In that case, flights better not be delayed! Some poor old soul next to me will be getting it in the ear! hehe!

Only 2 more sleeps to go!!! YEAY!!

See you when you get here.

wee paul won his fight agai today, 3 days 3 fights 3 wins. he is no in the final on wednesday. louise fights her semi final tomorrow

stevie

Nice one Stevie, best of luck to both in their next fights.

Any more results / reports and pics?

Well done to wee paul and louise great results for both of them.

well done to wee paul and louise for winning silver and bronze you both have done us all proud

sao (niamh) can you email me

Congrats Lou and Paul :-)

Not sure about full England team results and await full details but ;-

Chris Knowles wins Silver in A class
Lyndon Knowles wins bronze in B Class
Ian Coe and Charlie Gillespie lose in quarter finals in B Class

Well done lads

hi niamh
dident relise that was you till dave said

Any news on full results yet...can't wait to hear...

HI STEVIE NISBET(sit-A)any news about wee Paul & Loupy Lou ? RESPECT FINNIE

paul took silver and louise bronze

A big well done to Paully pocket, who just missed out on the gold:( I am really dissapointed with my outcome:( I got drawn against Canada in the semis, I was really nervous but fought quite well and was well ahead I reckon, but I went over on my foot in the 4th and that was pretty much the end for me:( I think I would have gone on to get gold no problem after that, as Belarus and Canada were the strongest. I guess thats the nature of tournament. I am dissapointed as I feel gold was well within my reach this year! Sorry for not bringing it back guys! :(

welldone LOOPY LOU & PAUL G. there is always next year, hope youre foot is ok max respect Finnie

Hey Loopy Lou,

Well done on your achievement - you have done something that some of us will never get the chance to do! Hindsight is a great thing but it's what happens in the ring at the time that counts and unfortunately on this occassion you were really unlucky but you will learn from your experience (strap your ankles more, lol!) and come back stronger and win gold next year! Knowing it's within your grasp is definately the best incentive to try again!

Well done on your medal!

Well done Caitlin, Paul and Louise. You've done Scotland proud.
Caitlin Finlay (junior) Gold
Paul Grant - Silver
Louise McLauchlin - Bronze.

Nice one.

Well done Caitlin Finlay (junior) Gold, and well done to Rab as well.

DOH, Caitlin Faulds won (junior) Gold, not Caitlin Finlay. Well done Rab, Lesley and wee Caitlin of Phoenix MT, Stevie, Paul and Louise Sit Ayuthaya.

WELL DONE Caitlin & all at Phoenix RESPECT Finnie

Sao, I have one quick question, was there a womens 45k division this year? Thanks Amy

WELL DONE CAITLIN!!.

Hello all,

Yes, there was a 45 kgs division - it was won by Ratchadaorn Withanthammae , Thailand with Stizlko Liksano of Russia taking the gold. There was also a junior female at 45 - Caitlin Fauld , Scotland taking the gold.

the full results are on www.ifmamuaythai.org with some photos , the IT folk are working on a photo gallery, should be up today.


it was great meeting lots of new fighters this year - especially seeing the increase in women fighters and the increase in standards in the women's ring :)

niamh

Florina Petcu seemed to be the smallest women from the US. She is about 112 The US needs to send a Pinweight : ) I seem to never break 100lbs; ) Congrats to her and all the US fighters who competed.

Thanks for the kind word Catherine.
I am gutted about it of course. I did have my foot supported, not a lot but precisely enough that I know will stop it from going over. 3 strips of tape that run from my heel under my instep to my ankle. This is very minimal. However unfortunately for me the idiot referee ripped it off, even though we saw ppl with ridiculous amounts and it isnt against the rules. Furtheremore she was Ukranian and didnt speak English. She then went on making a further idiot of herself attempting to ref the bout. I later heard my opponent put in a complaint. I feel that there is little I can take from it apart from bad feelings and uncertainty about my future in the sport due to my foot. I hope to have a big year next year, hopefully getting out to Thailand to fight and train over the summer. I will just have to wait and see how my foot goes now. Thanks for the nice words though!
And well done to wee Caitlin who did brilliant beating a taller opponent, she was nervous but paid attention to what she was told and done brilliantly!

Florina was the lightest.

Florina - 112 (silver)
Kara - 132 (bronze)
Laila - 156 (bronze)

PS - Loopy Lou. The Ukrainian referee was out-of-control with those issues. We verified that our fighter could pull and anklet over her shin and then she "overruled" the official and told her to remove it. BUT she had to be told 3x to check the Russian opponent, who also had double anklets AND tape. I won't even get into her reffing inconsistencies.