After making the trip to China for the Karate World Cup, Leticia Franchi’s luggage was a little bit heavier with the addition of a third place trophy.
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Having competed at two World Cups in the past Franchi wanted to improve on her record of not making it past the first round.
“I just wanted to go and win one fight,” she said.
“My goal was to obviously go there and win, but the goal in my head was to get past the first round, so I was very happy when I got third.”
Due to changes in the classifications, Franchi was forced to fight outside her regular weight division but took on the challenge.
“The weight categories were different in China,” she said.
“Usually I fight 60 kilos and below which is usually lightweights but their lightweights were 55 and under, so I had to fight middleweights.
“I fought the girl who won the whole thing. She was from Brazil and was a fair bit heavier than me. She was awesome, a really strong fighter so I was happy that I got to fight her. My fight against her was probably my favourite fight ever.”
In the lead-up, to the World Cup, the training for Franchi was akin to having an extra full-time job.
“I was getting up nearly every second day I'd get up at 6am and do an hour session with Frank in the morning which was stuff that I didn't enjoy doing,” she said
“Things like hill sprints and plyometric stuff and resistance bands and then go to work full time then finish work and go to training so our normal Karate session for an hour and a half and then after that, I would go to the gym to do Cardio or weight training and that was another 45 minutes.
“I counted at one stage I was doing 11 sessions a week.”
Franchi thanked Frank Cirillo for all of the work he had put in for her training and making sure she was in the best shape possible.
“It is not just my win it is definitely Frank's as well, and he has been there since day one with my fighting and has always been very encouraging,” she said. “He has spent a lot of his time outside our usual training helping me to develop my skills and making my fighting better. I think he was even happier than me with the win.”
After the success in China, Franchi has decided to call time on her days competing in competitions.
Liam Warren
As someone with an underlying passion about sport it is a privilege to report on the sporting landscape around the MIA
As someone with an underlying passion about sport it is a privilege to report on the sporting landscape around the MIA
