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Copyright (C) by Shuhari-Kai Karate Club 2003-2009

      

Progress made at Seishin Open but no golden touch      A small squad of six travelled to Grundy Park Leisure Centre in Cheshunt on Sunday 1st August, to compete in the Seishin open Karate tournament. The squad collected 1 silver and 2 bronzes between them which is an improvement on last year when the squad failed to collect a single medal. All the medals were picked up in the Kumite events whilst the Kata events, which were held first, proved frustrating. Jordan Hodges was up first competing in the Under 10 yrs Novice to 5th Kyu category. Performing Pinan Shodan, Jordan successfully won through to round three with a 3 flag victory after receiving a first round bye. However, Jordan surprisingly lost out in the next round losing 3 flags to 0. The 11-15 yrs 4th-1st Kyu category had Luke Bannister, Sophie Roberts and Aimee Sell all competing together. All of them made round two with Luke winning 2 flags to 1 for Rohai Kata, Sophie winning all three flags for Seienchin Kata and Aimee taking all three flags for her Seienchin Kata. Luke was a surprising casualty in round two as his Wanshu Kata was beaten 3 flags to nil. Likewise, Sophie’s performance of Seipai was surprisingly beaten 2 flags to 1. Aimee didn’t suffer a second defeat as her Nipaipo Kata secured all three flags taking her into the next round. Here, Aimee was fairly beaten by the eventual winner after her Jion failed to win over any of the judges but still a good showing from the 9 year old. The Dan 11-15 Dan grade category saw Alex Sell in action and his opening Kata of Seienchin saw him into round two with a 2 flags to 1 win. Alex took all three flags in the next round for his Bassai-Dai performance but the third round saw Alex lose out as his Nipaipo Kata was beaten 2 flags to 1. Another surprising decision.      The open team Kata event saw Aimee and Sophie team up with Alex as their usual partner was on holiday. Performing Seienchin Kata in their opening round, they narrowly won with a 2 flags to 1 victory (now that was a surprising decision!). Performing Jion in round two they lost 3 flags to 0 but this left them in joint third and they were required to play-off for third spot. Not having practised any Katas together, (let alone 3 Katas) they chose Pinan Nidan and not surprisingly they lost out 2 flags to 1. Perhaps they shouldn’t of been smiling and chuckling whilst performing the Kata but at least they enjoyed themselves.    After the intermission where a Latino Salsa display took place (???) the Kumite events were next and Jordan Hodges was once again in action first. Unfortunately, Jordan was an early casualty losing his opening round fight as he failed to open up and get into the swing of things. Definitely not up to Jordan’s higher standard. Not sure of the scores as their were no score boards on display. Luke Bannister and Alex Sell both completed in the Boys U45KG event. Luke made the quarter finals as he received a first round bye and a no-show in round two. Luke then narrowly lost out in the third round but battled hard towards the end but was unable to make up the difference. Alex made the finals after easily overcoming his first and second round opponents. His third round opponent made Alex work harder for the victory whilst the semi-final bout proved to be a closer affair and a much more physical contest. The final proved a little scrappy as Alex fought hard to find a way through his opponents defence. Alex had a point scored against him with 30 seconds left and that proved the decisive blow as Alex had to settle for silver on this occasion.   Meanwhile, Sophie Roberts picked up the squads second medal as she secured a bronze for third place in the Girls U50KG event. The semi-final saw Sophie against a 15 year old National Champion. Although Sophie gave her a good run for her money, she lost out after being out-pointed. The fight-off for third place saw Sophie being awarded bronze by default as her opponent failed to show (which was just as well as Sophie was steaming after her defeat). Abigail Gee also picked up bronze and the squads final meal of the day after putting in some excellent performance to take wins. Abigail lost out in the semi-finals but came back strong to take the bronze in the third place play-offs. Well done Abigail.   Squad: Luke Bannister, Abigail Gee, Jordan Hodges, Sophie Roberts, Aimee Sell & Alex Sell.

 

For further information email us at info@shuharikai.co.uk or call Chief Instructor Richard Burridge on 01708 737125 or 07850 253998   Copyright (C) by Shuhari-Kai Karate Club 2003-2009