Tipperary man defeats his cousin to win third All-Ireland title in a row
Dylan Sullivan is national senior karate champion
Above: From left, Adam Whitney; All-Ireland Senior Karate champion Dylan Sullivan; Michael Corbett (coach) and Luke Whitney, who won the All-Ireland Under 18 Boys Kumite title. They are all club mates in Tora-Kan, Ballyporeen
Cahir man Dylan Sullivan has won the senior men’s black belt national karate title for the third year in a row.
He beat his cousin, Adam Whitney, who is a member of the same club, Tora-Kan in Ballyporeen, in an epic final, by a slim margin of 6-4 at the Moyle Rovers GAA complex in Monroe, just outside Clonmel.
Both men will be representing Ireland in Crete at the SKIF European Karate Championships.
Dylan Sullivan is maintaining a great family tradition in the sport and follows in the footsteps of his father Kevin, a former national champion whose name was also etched on the trophy 21 years ago.
Just four and a half years ago, in December 2021, Dylan collapsed while training with the national team at the Moyle Rovers complex in Monroe.
His heart stopped and he had to be given CPR by his cousin Joanne Noonan from Ballydrehid, Cahir to save his life.
He was fortunate that there was a Covid test centre nearby and some nurses came to his assistance.
Later that month, he had open heart surgery to replace the ventricle in his heart, a build-up of calcium having caused a heart attack.
The surgery was a major success and after a long hard road back, and with the full approval of the medical team, he was back training and fought his way to win the national title in 2023.
In the same year he represented Ireland in the World Championships in Hungary and was narrowly beaten in his third round fight which was for a medal, earning him a ranking of fifth in the world.
Over the past 12 months, Dylan has won 10 out of 12 national tournaments.