Toyakwai Grand open Championships   Sunday 18th September 2005 saw a small squad of 6 travel to Clacton to compete in the Toyakwai Grand Open Championships. The squad came home with 1 Gold and 2 Silver medals.   The first events were Kata which were judged on one single round scored on points by three judges. The Mixed U16yrs 3-1st Kyu category saw Jade Lewis, Sophie Roberts and Aimee Sell all in action. Up first for the squad was Aimee who performed Bassai-Dai. She scored 7.1, 7.2 & 7.3 from the three judges totalling 21.6. This put her into 1st position in the early stages. Next up was Jade who performed Seienchin. The judges scored her 7.0, 7.0 & 7.1 totalling 21.1. Last up from the trio was Sophie who performed Bassai-Dai. She received a score of 7.1, 7.1 & 7.1 from the judges totalling 21.3. After the remaining competitors had completed their Katas, Jade lay 10th overall, Sophie was 5th just out of the medals this time and Aimee now lay in joint first position with Gojo's Matt Tansley. In a playoff for first Aimee performed Nipaipo Kata scoring 7.1, 7.3 & 7.3 from the judges, but her score of 21.7 wasn't good enough to beat Matt's score of 22.0 for his Suparimpei Kata. Nevertheless Aimee had once again produced a fantastic result to gain Silver against a high calibre and much older field.   The U16yrs Dan Grade Kata category saw Alex Sell in action. Alex was drawn about half way down the list and it was hard to judge how the rest of the field had done as one score card wasn't always being shown to the spectators. When it was shown, the score was widely higher than the other two closely matched scores which made the event very unpredictable. Alex decided to perform Annan for his Kata and scored 7.3, 7.4 & 7.8 (yes 7.8) totalling 22.5. After the remaining competitors had completed their Katas, Alex lay in joint first place along with 3 other competitors and a final playoff ensued. Alex performed Chatanyara Kushanku Kata and scored 7.4, 7.4 & 7.9 (did I mention the high scoring) totalling 22.7 giving him the overall lead and Gold.   Jordan Hodges participated in the Mixed U16yrs category and scored 6.9, 7.0 & 7.0 for his performance of Pinan Godan Kata. Unfortunately this left him outside of the top three medal positions on this occasion.   The squad entered a team for the U16yrs Open Grade Team Kata event but this was the first time Aimee, Jade and Sophie had ever teamed up let alone practiced. It did show on this occasion as they received just an average score for their Seienchin Kata scoring 6.9, 7.0 & 7.0 from the judges. The team weren't too fazed about this as the team events are just fun events for them but they did witness some good team Kata performances from the Ishinryu teams. Be watching some of them at the Nationals.   The Kumite events soon kicked off with Jordan Hodges up first in the Boys 4'5"-4'10" U16yrs category. Jordan looked a little rusty from lack of recent competition and didn't mix up his techniques enough to catch his opponent. Jordan eventually lost out in his opening round 5-0.   Jade Lewis put together a much-improved performance than that of the previous week but still lost out 6-4 in her opening round of the Girls 4'5"-4'10" U16yrs category. Jade was unlucky as her opponent seemingly got awarded 3 points when the ref awarded her 1 point and that made the difference, but she can shrug that off and build on her performance for next time.   The Girls 5'3" & Over U16yrs category saw Sophie Roberts in action. Sophie made a good start in the first round securing hard-fought 6-3 win. The next round she found her techniques not being scored by the referee as her opponent took most of the points. The bout ended with Sophie losing 7-2 feeling slightly frustrated. With any luck that will put her into an even more determined mood for the Nationals.    The Boys 5'3" & Over U16yrs category was a large category and saw Alex Sell soon take to the mat. After receiving a first round bye, Alex took on an Australian opponent (there was quite a large Australian contingent 'on tour' at this tournament) and won the encounter 6-0. The third round saw Alex secure a 4-1 win and he followed this up with a 5-1 in the semi-finals. In the final Alex came up against a very good opponent, Roding's James Steadman. James is no slouch when it comes to Karate and was odds on favourite to come out on top as Alex was giving away 2 years and a couple of stone. Alex put on a good show but there was only going to be one winner and the bout finished 5-3 in favour of James. Good effort from Alex and a well deserved Silver.   The squads final competitor was Dean Bannister. Dean competed in two events, the Male Cadets 16-19yrs and the Mens 16yrs & Over 3rd Kyu+ events. in the Cadets, Dean was quick off the mark and kept his opponent busy but narrowly lost 2-1. In the Mens event, Dean was unlucky enough to be drawn against Alton Brown in the first round. Dean tried his best against him but Alton's speed was too much for Dean and the bout finished 7-1 to Alton. At least had the privilege of scoring a point against him.   Squad: Dean Bannister, Jordan Hodges, Jade Lewis, Sophie Roberts, Aimee Sell & Alex Sell.