Dumbarton kickboxer Maia Bisley wins five golds at British Open event

Dumbarton kickboxing star Maia Bisley warmed up for this year’s European Championships with a flawless performance at Kickboxing GB’s International Open in Nottingham.

The talented 13-year-old brought five golds from the five events she entered back to Dumbarton – despite fighting up an age group in three of the categories.

And mum Kim was incredibly proud of Maia’s showing, ahead of the European Championships in Istanbul later this month.

Kim told the Lennox: “She had a fantastic competition. It was Kickboxing GB’s first international open. Normally she fights in older cadets (-50), but there was nobody in one of her categories.

“Normally you can fight up in weight, but unusually in this you could fight up in age group. And she was just amazing. To win five gold medals from five categories is incredible.

“Her dad, Stewart, is really good. He looks at the categories before she goes onto the mat to see who is in it. He’ll try and watch the fighters if they are in another category and then tell Maia what they are good at.

“This competition was about Maia learning to fight her own fight and not waiting for it to come to her. Sometimes the clock can start, there are two really good fighters and it can be 20 or 30 seconds in before anyone has done anything. That can lose a big chunk of your fight.

“Going into it Maia was confident. She had a few hard fights against some really talented fighters, but she was fully focused and comfortable on the mats.

“It was a really good competition for her and the perfect preparation for Turkey later this month.”

As well as golds in the older cadet light contact and points (50kg) categories, Maia – who fights for Edinburgh Wolfpack – was also victorious in junior light contact, points and