Inverness teenager Aidan Lennan becomes double world champion as younger brother Ciaran Lennan earns silver at WAKO Youth World Championships in Hungary
Aidan Lennan has come back from the WAKO Youth World Championships in Hungary as a double world champion – and the top ranked fighter in the world.
Competing across three different categories in Budapest, points, kick light and light contact in the junior male under-19s under-63kg section, the elder Lennan brother competed in a total of 16 fights over the week.
First up was the points competition, where Lennan won three fights against competitors from Chile, Bulgaria and the USA before going up against Alexandros Lyritis from Greece.
The two competitors are very familiar with each other, and two periods of extra time were needed to separate them – with Lyritis scoring the win on sudden death, leaving Lennan with a bronze medal.
In the light contact category, Aidan took on the top ranked fighters in the world, culminating with a gold medal match against the world number one Erik Gartner from Slovenia, which the Invernessian won.
Looking to back up his golden moment in the kick light, Aidan again picked off the opposition, including world number one Charalampos Manousakidis from Greece in the quarter finals.
Another victory in the semi finals teed up a fight against Luka Bolatti Dariozzi from Argentina in the final, and Lennan comfortably won to claim his second world title.
Aidan was also selected to represent the Great Britain squad in the team event, alongside Rory Harrison, Sid Williams and Ryan Evans, and together they made it past two rounds before losing out to Germany in the semi finals, forcing them to settle for bronze.
His accomplishments mean that the older Lennan brother is now ranked number one in the world, putting him in a strong position to realise his Olympic dream should kickboxing be included in the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.
Ciaran was also in action in Hungary, competing in points and light contact in the older cadets under-15 under-47kg category.
Unfortunately, the younger Lennan got caught in his first points fight against a talented Italian athlete, but redemption was on the cards in the light contact, defeating fighters from Bulgaria, Greece and Italy to find himself in the final.
There he was up against home talent Alex Zhekov, who had too much for Lennan on the day but Ciaran could still take a silver medal back to the Highlands to show for his efforts.
Mum Diane commented: “We are unbelievably proud of Aidan and Ciaran. They have worked so hard the last few years to get to where they are now which is a hard task coming from the Highlands and needing to travel the country for training and sparring partners.
“They are very lucky to have some lovely sponsors who help them with the costs to do all the travelling and competing and we would really like to thank them for all they do for the boys.”
Both Lennan brothers train out of HMAC Inverness with coaches Ross Houston and Reece Stewart, and at HESA Inverness with Amanda Croall.
They then also travel to Livingston every Saturday to train at Woldpack Martial Arts with WAKO GB and head of WAKO Scotland Kevin Baldwin.
Next up for the pair will be the Bristol Open 2024 in October, which this year will be held at the Bath University Sports Village.
