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 Aimee and Alex Sell flew out of Stanstead Airport early Saturday morning to take part in the 7th Czech International Karate Cup which was
being held over two days, Cadets and Juniors on Saturday 30th September with Children on Sunday 11th October 2006. Due to the very early start we found ourselves in Pilsen, around 10am. After dropping off our luggage we jumped into a taxi and headed off to the sports hall to
catch up on the mornings action. At the venue we met up with fellow England participant, Harry Cannon from Khalsa Karate. We also found two England squad members - Reece Taylor in the midst of his Kata event and James Steadman patiently waiting to go on for
his Kumite event. After a few hours of watching the Cadets and Juniors in action, we headed back to our hotel in the centre of Pilsen.
Sunday saw a return to the tournament venue bright and early ready for the days action. I must say at this point that the standard of competitors at the tournament was extremely high with a number of national champions representing their
respective clubs / counties. The level of competition was very high.
Competing in the Girls 10-11yrs Kata category was Aimee Sell. Aimee was in a field of 9 competitors and after all but two received byes in the 1st round they all then got done to business in the 2nd rounds. Aimee performed
Bassai-Dai as her opening Kata and beat her opponent 3 flags to 0. Now in the semi-final Aimee needed to win this round to make the final, and make the final she did with a 'super' display of Nipaipo once again securing a 3 flags to 0 win. After the repechage rounds had
completed, Aimee was drawn to go second. After watching her opponent perform Jion, Aimee performed Annan. The judges flags went 3 blue giving Aimee Gold and yet another major title to add to her steady growing collection. Aimee was absolutely chuffed to have won beating some of
the best of her European rivals which highlights her English and European standing.
The boys 14-15yrs Kata event saw both Alex Sell and Harry Cannon competing together, luckily at different ends of the draw. Alex had a tough draw and was up against the Danish Champion in the 1st round. Alex went first to
perform Seienchin with his opponent following and performing Jion. Alex did very well to beat him 3 flags to 0. The 2nd round saw Alex now up against the Czech National Champion. Alex was drawn blue this time and went second. After watching his opponents Enpi Kata, Alex
performed an excellent Nipaipo Kata. The vote was split in favour of Alex's opponent and although disappointed he wasn't surprised. Unfortunately for Alex, the Czech Champion lost out 2-1 in the semi-final after opting to perform Sochin Kata against a good Goju
Shiho Kata meaning Alex's chances of competing for a bronze in the repechage were dashed. Meanwhile, Harry made it to the final after securing a 1st round bye, a 3-0 win in round two with Nipaipo and a semi final 3-0 win with Unshu Kata. The
final saw Harry's Chatanyara Kushanku out perform his opponents Unsu winning the match 3-0 to secure gold. Well done Harry.
The boys 14-15yrs 60kgs+ category was one of the toughest Kumite events Alex has ever entered. Alex was not only one of the youngest in this event, but weighing in at under 60kg (oops sorry Alex, should have put you in the
-60kgs), he was certainly the lightest too, and judging by the size of his opponents he was giving away between 5-10kgs as well! With 20 competitors in the event, Alex was joined by Harry once again and also by EKKA's Craig Warren.
Surprisingly/unsurprisingly the three English boys were all put in the same side of the draw with Harry and Craig drawn together in the 1st round. To finish the event more quickly the category was split into two pools with the boys in pool B which was started just after poll A
commenced. The English boys were also the only ones in their pool not to get a first round bye!!! Hmmm.
Alex's 1st round was against a Dutch opponent from 'Unity 99 Karate'. They brought over a large team and their support was by far the most vocal of all the supporters (except for the English later on...). Alex soon
silenced them as he battled his way through a bruising encounter to win the match 5-3 taking and giving back a few digs on the way. Alex came off the mat as if he'd gone through a whole tournament in England. Welcome to the big league Alex! The all-England
clash with Harry and Craig was next as everyone else received a bye. Predictably this was a close match which went into extra time with the scores tied 0-0. Harry snatched the decisive point to go through to the next round leaving Craig a little
dejected going all the way to the Czech Republic only to face another English opponent in the 1st round.
Round two for Alex was against a competitor who was about the same height and build as himself. Alex made sure he dominated the match scoring three Gyaks to come out a 3-0 win at the end of the 2 minute match.
Harry's 2nd round match was against a much bigger and heavier opponent so Harry really psyched himself up for this one. Harry caught his opponent who immediately went down despite his size. This turned out to be the pattern of this match. Harry picked him
and and slam-duncked him on the mat - warning. Harry's opponent launched himself at Harry, Harry caught him and hoisted him up onto his shoulders. The ref shouted "Yame" so Harry stopped and his opponent fell to the floor - warning (that was sweet). The
matched finished with Harry being disqualified after his opponent hit the floor once again following a lovely Ushiro Mawashigeri. Harry was unlucky as his opponent appeared to feign an awful lot of injuries to gain some penalty points which eventually led to Harry's early
exit. Harry brought over his fan club, about half a dozen members and parents from his club and support and noise coming from them outgunned the vocal talents of the Dutch up to now.
Alex's 3rd match round saw him against his tallest opponent over 6ft. Alex did well to keep out of his long reach and upset his rhythm to clinch the match 1-0 after snatching a point following a front hand snap punch mid way
through the match. Right at the death Alex was caught on the nose and had to go to the medics to stop his nose bleed before the next match began.
The 4th round was the semi-final and Alex came up against the Danish competitor who Alex had beaten in the Kata events. Alex was extremely unlucky in this match as he lost the initial point and then had an excellent Ura-Mawashigeri
given a no score because of a light touch. Alex dropped two more points when a Chudan Mawashigeri caught Alex's arm but the judges scored it, and had another Ura-Mawashigeri not scored. Alex launched a final attack and with two seconds remaining and once again the chance to
level the score was dismissed as his Ura-Mawashigeri was once again dismissed.
Alex was automatically into the repechage final and I have never seen him more focused and determined, especially as his opponent was the opponent who had beaten Harry in an earlier round. Alex just came out flying to land an
opening front snap punch and followed it up two successive Gyaks and another snap punch before finally having a Ura-Mawashigeri scored. A final Gyak and it was all over with just over 1 minute 30 seconds still remaining on the clock. He had completely decimated his opponent and
that was the most devastating I've seen Alex. With Alex it's usually gold or nothing to make him happy, but he was over-the-moon to gain a medal against this level of opposition. Well done., you've definitely graduated into the big boys league.
It was good to see the English competitors and family support all the English contingent and a big well done also to the EKKA squad who came away with a handful of medals too. Karate England may have had it's problems with internal issues
but at true grass roots competition level, that's where you'll find true unity.
So final tally was a Gold for Aimee in Kata and a Bronze for Alex in Kumite.
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