Aberdeen fighter Rudy Da Silva has claimed a silver medal at the WBC World Amateur Muay Thai Championships in Venice.
The 16-year-old showed his class at the tournament which saw 500 athletes from 90 different countries battle it out for honours.
Team Scotland’s Rudy, who was joined in Venice by his Aberdeen Muay Thai club coach Andy Rose, came through his quarter-final bout against an opponent from Austria on points.
The north-east fighter then recorded an impressive semi-final victory against an English opponent – who himself had dispatched the pre-event favourite from Thailand earlier in the competition.
In the gold medal bout, Aberdeen’s Rudy was defeated by his French rival, but had done enough to earn global silver.
His coach Rose was proud of how his athlete overcame health and personal issues in the build-up to the trip to the WBC World Amateur Muay Thai Championships, saying: “It was the first time Rudy’s been at a major world event.
“The preparation wasn’t the best in the lead up to the tournament after he was floored for three weeks with glandular fever, which left us only a couple weeks before the event to get some fitness and strength back into him.
“Unfortunately within that time he also lost his granda, Alec Wilson.
“We’re very proud how he handled himself through all of this and to stay focused on coming home with a medal from the tournament.”
Rudy – who has previously claimed WBC under-16 titles at Scottish, British and European level – will be back in Italy later in the year for the WTKA World Championships with six of his Aberdeen Muay Thai team-mates, having also been among the club’s fighters who qualified for the 2022 edition of the event.
