Newcastle kickboxer wins international bronze
Newcastle student Nesta Baxter won a bronze medal for Team Great Britain. She competed at the WAKO Kickboxing Senior World Championships in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
11 November 2019
Nesta’s success at the highest level comes in her first-ever call up for the national team as a senior. She recently moved up from the junior divisions, where she was ranked top in the world.
The medical student is a Newcastle University Sports Funded Athlete. She said: ‘Winning the bronze medal is brilliant. I am very encouraged about my future as a Senior Kickboxing Athlete. After a tough selection process, to be able to represent Team GB, I took the opportunity with both hands. I enjoyed it throughout as an amazing experience.
‘I am already looking forward to the upcoming season next year both nationally and internationally. I made a big impact at the top level last week. I would like to thank Newcastle University for their continued support in my kickboxing journey.’
The 22nd WAKO Kickboxing Senior World Championships were in October at the Zetra Olympic Hall. Nesta fought against some of the world’s best athletes. Each country is allowed only one entrant per category at the championship.
Nesta, 19, competed in the Senior Female - 60kg Light Continuous Kickboxing. In the preliminary rounds, she fought against a strong German athlete. Nesta dominated throughout to finish with a unanimous division in her favour. It put her through to the quarter finals.
In the quarter finals, Nesta met an opponent well known to her. It was an Italian kickboxer who finished in silver position at last year’s Senior European Championships. The fight was close. Nesta fought very well to secure the win and to be able to progress through to the semi finals.
In the semi finals, Nesta came up against a Hungarian fighter. She recently fought her at the EUSA University Games in August. Her opponent won the Senior European Title last year in a higher weight class. This time, Nesta went forward with a strong game plan, which she stuck to throughout. The fight was very intense with Nesta winning the first two rounds.
But it was the Hungarian who secured the win by a narrow margin of two points within the last round. She progressed to the final and eventually went on to win the category.
Nesta finished up the competition with a well-earned bronze. It was some of the best fighting that she has ever displayed. She pushed well established senior adult fighters right until the final second of the round. This was her first ever Senior Kickboxing World Championships at such a young age.