Double gold for Murphy in Rome

Last weekend Point Blank head coach Tim Murphy won gold medals in the IBJJF Rome International Open and the European Jiu Jitsu no-gi Championships.

In the Rome Open on Saturday Tim dominated on his way to the semi-final where he took on an Italian opponent. Controlling the action from the start he secured an armbar from mount to progress to the final. In the final he took on an Israeli opponent in  what turned out to be a much closer match. About half way into the match, with no points scored by either competitor,  as his opponent turtled to avoid having his guard passed Tim locked in a guillotine choke forcing the tap out.

The following day competitors returned to the venue for the European Jiu Jitsu no-gi Championships. Again Tim was able to control the action and like the previous day dropped no points on the way to another gold medal. Tim took on a French competitor with a dangerous guard game in the final. With about 30 seconds left Tim was 5-0 up when his opponent attacked with a guillotine choke. Managing to defend the submission he then secured a sweep to finish off the match and take the win.

Congrats also to Fergal Quinlan to took a silver medal in an extremely closely-contested black belt division, making him the first Irish black belt to medal in an IBJJF santioned event. Fergal regularly travels to Galway to conduct training sessions in Point and these are never ones to be missed.