Welsh Junior Open Championships   Only three Shuhari-Kai squad members travelled to Cardiff to compete in the Welsh Junior Open Championships held on Saturday 6th August 2005. Between the three of them, Sophie Roberts, Aimee Sell and Alex Sell they came away with 2 Golds and 1 Silver and a Bronze medal.   The Mixed Under 12 years Kata event saw 10 year old Aimee in action first. This was a heavily subscribed category with five rounds but the competitors were at least allowed to repeat their Katas. Aimee won her opening round 3 flags to 0 with her Seienchin Kata and followed this up in round two with another 3-0 with her Bassai-Dai Kata. Unfortunately the judges called the wrong competitors up and Aimee had to repeat her Kata again against a new opponent but still maintained her 3-0 win. The third round saw Aimee once again perform Seienchin Kata and once again secured a 3-0 win. Aimee performed Nipaipo Kata in the fourth round (semi-final) and  another 3-0 win took her into the final. In the final, Aimee performed Seienchin Kata once more and took the Gold with another 3-0 win to make a clean sweep of the flags. This was a big category and an excellent result for Aimee who was up against some good opposition.   The Boys 3rd Kyu+ 12-15 years Kata event saw 13 year old Alex up next and he won his opening round 3-0 after performing Bassai-Dai. Alex next performed Chatanyara Kushanku in the semi-final and once again took all 3 flags. The final saw Alex take the opportunity to perform his newest Kata, Unshu, but he lost out this time 0-3 to Gojo's Mat Tansley who performed an excellent Suparinpe. Still an excellent result in this under 16's event.   Our final Kata competitor of the day was 14 year old Sophie,  competing in the Girls 3rd Kyu+ 12-15 years event. With only 5 competitors in this event Sophie was assured a bronze after receiving a first round bye. The semi-final saw Sophie perform Seienchin but she narrowly lost out progressing to the final losing the decision 2 flags to 1 and she had to settle for Bronze.   The Kumite events were soon underway and following the referees one hour lunch break and Alex was in action first. Alex received a first round bye but then narrowly made it passed the second round as the scores were tied at 1-1 after extra time. The judges were being quite tough on the points and try as he might his techniques obviously weren't clean enough for the referee to score. After extra time the judges decision went 3 to 1 in favour of Alex. The next round was pretty much the same as the one before only Alex received a contact warning within the first 5 seconds this time. This was Alex's undoing as Alex was once again penalised for excessive contact following a Mawashigeri kick to his opponents back during extra time. With the scores tied at 2-2 Alex gave away the winning point and had to bow out.   This left Sophie ready for action in the Girls 14-15 years Kumite event and she won through her opening round 2-0 with her Mawashigeri kick being the only obvious score according to the judges. The semi-final saw Sophie score techniques as she took the round winning 5-0. The final saw Sophie use her speed and experience as she took a 3-1 win for Gold dropping her only point of the day in this round. Well done Sophie.   The championships were well organised as it was just juniors it didn't drag at all. Congratulations to the Welsh Karate Federation for this. At 4:30pm we were all done and dusted on on our way home. Win or lose the kids still enjoyed themselves.   Squad: Sophie Roberts, Aimee Sell & Alex Sell.