Strichen’s kickboxing star Eilidh Craib has added another belt to her collection after claiming the European title.
The 17-year-old, who is the British, Scottish and Celtic champion, beat French champion Camille Oukoukes on April 20 as part of the Apex Fight Series at Fraserburgh Leisure centre.
Her win to secure the title means the teenager maintains an impressive record of winning all but one of her competitive bouts.
It was a hard-fought win that went all the way over five rounds, which Craib says made it all the sweeter, as she explained: “It feels amazing.
“It was a hard fight, but I think that made getting the win even better because it was so hard.
“It is a huge deal. I put a lot of work into the fight. It was the most training I have definitely done before a fight – I was training before school and after school. It was a lot.
“All the training has been worthwhile.”
Strichen kickboxing sensation eyes world title after recent win
Craib’s next big fight will be in June, but the Mintlaw Academy pupil who is away to undertake her S6 exams, is already planning to compete on the global stage.
She said: “We’re actually speaking about going for a world title, hopefully, in August. It hasn’t been confirmed yet, but that would be the goal.”
Craib’s coach Shane Weir was left beaming with pride after Craib beat the French fighter as he explained how Oukoukes was the “most powerful” person the teenager had met in the ring.
He said: “I’m very proud.
“I’m most proud of how well Eilidh dealt with things. The power that the girl had in round one – even my whole body was tense watching on.
“I got a bit nervous in round one because the girl would step in with her left hand and you could see it knocking Eilidh’s head back and her right low kick was just ferocious as well.
“As nervous as Eilidh gets before a fight, there was not an ounce of nerves when she was in there. She was so composed and that is one of the things I am most proud of.”
Weir believes it was a defining triumph for Craib, who ended Oukoukes unbeaten streak of eight fights in eight weekends leading up to the bout in the Broch.
He added: “To beat somebody as strong as Camille and to stop her streak, it is definitely a statement win. It is a world-title worthy statement.”
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