After the successes last year, Kosovo kickboxers aim to bring more medals to Kosovo from international competitions during 2025.
Six athletes who represent Kosovo in the international arena come from the “Creative Fight Club”, where the intensive work of the kickboxers has started since the beginning of this year.
Coach Ilir Menxhiqi, who is also the selector of the Kosovo National Kickboxing Team, reveals to KosovaPress the competitions in which they will participate, while saying that this year there will be a doubling of activities in the sport of kickboxing.
“Last year was successful, we had several activities where we achieved various successes. Based on those successes, I was also chosen as the best coach for 2024. The year 2025 will have double the activities. Initially, we have the international professional competitions, where we have the fight of Dardan Menxhiqi on January 25 in Belgium. We also have two consecutive fights in February and March. The Kosovo Championship is expected to be held in March, where the selection of the best in the Kosovo National Team will also be made,” said Menxhiqi.
While he says that there is great interest in the sport of kickboxing among young people, Menxhiqi expects more help from the Ministry of Sports for local competitions during this year.
“There is great interest. What we lack is activities. But, I believe that with the help of the Ministry of Sports and the Kickboxing Federation, this year we will have more activities, so that we have something to show, and the youth can see what is happening”, said Menxhiqi.
One of the kickboxers who will represent Kosovo in international competitions this year is Dardan Menxhiqi. He says that he is getting ready for three very important competitions.
“There are many competitions, I have three now, on January 25, February 22 and March 29, all of them are with invitations from the Netherlands and Belgium. So, the first is on January 25, it is called MJF Events, the second is Battel Arena, and the third, the most important for me, is Enfusion Kickboxing, which is one of the three best federations in the world, the strongest” , said Mendzhiqi.
One of the talents who is dedicated to this sport is Blin Kerhanaj, who dreams of winning trophies, but also of becoming as famous as the Albanian kickboxer, Florian Marku.
“Today I am sparring with a friend of mine, I came here to show my talent… I have loved this sport since I was little, I can’t explain how much I love it… My dream is to become a very strong kickboxer, and to go to different countries in the world to compete and win… I like Florian Marku the most, who is a boxer and a kickboxer, and he is very strong”, said Kerhanaj.
Besides the international competitions, the Kosovo kickboxing championship is also expected to take place in March.
