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The Seishin Open held on 6th August 2006 was one or our local competitions only being about 20 miles away at the Grundy Leisure Centre in Hertfordshire. M25, A10, nice and easy, unless the A10 junction is closed due to road works - doughhh! There were
nine students from Shuhari-Kai competing at this tournament including Terry Morton who's only just dabbled his toes into the competition scene over the past few years but hopefully he enjoyed his experience and we'll get to see him at some more competitions shortly.
Given the fact that it was holiday season the hall was packed with competitors and spectators once again as it was last year making this feel like one of the largest competitions attended this year. It was extremely hot and sticky in there too making the competitors work twice as
hard as usual and given the large field in some of the categories, this turned out to be a pretty tough and grueling tournament in the end.
So how did young Master Morton get on? Terry was competing in the Mixed 11-15yrs, 6th-4th Kyu Kata event and performed Pinan Godan in his opening round but was unlucky to lose out 2 flags to 1. Callum Alboni was also unlucky to lose as he suffered a 1st round
exit when his Pinan Nidan was narrowly beaten 2 flags to 1 in the U10ys 6-4th Kyu. Shane Mitchell competed in the 13-15yrs, 3rd-1st Kyu category and a good execution of Nipaipo Kata saw him into the 2nd round on the back of a 3 flags to 0 win. Unfortunately for Shane, he came
up against the category winner in the 2nd round and his Bassai-Dai Kata was beaten 3 flags to 0.
The 13-15yrs, Dan Grade Category saw both Sophie Roberts and Alex Sell competing. Sophie lost 2 flags to 1 after her opening round Kata of Bassai-Dai was narrowly beaten. Alex had a bit more luck than Sophie as he received a 1st round bye. The 2nd round saw Alex
perform Bassai-Dai Kata and win the round with a 3 flags to 0 victory. Alex then went on to win the 3rd round with another 3 flags to 0 win with his performance of Seienchin Kata. The semi-final round saw Alex's run come to an end as he matched Gareth Haines's Unshu Kata only to lose
3-0 as Gareth went on to win the event. As the tournament had no joint bronze's (go figure), Alex had another Kata to perform for the third place play-off, but not before he got changed into his fighting Gi, (I feel a Del Boy moment coming on - Alex, what a plonker!). Alex
performed Chatanyara Kushanku (in his fighting Gi) whilst his opponent, Emma Lucraft performed Unshu. Emma did wobble at one point in her Kata which meant the Bronze medal went Alex's way this time with a 2 flags to 1 victory but had she not wobbled things may have been different.
The 10-12yrs, 3rd-1st Kyu Kata category had a huge field and with 6 rounds there were about 70 competitors competing. Aimee Sell was competing for the squad in this event and came up against current British Champion Marjan Jeddi from Hanko-Ryu. Marjan performed Annan Kata
and Aimee, even though WKF rules were not in force at this tournament chose to strictly follow the format performing the WKF compulsory Kata Bassai-Dai. Aimee won the round 2 flags to 1. The 2nd round saw Aimee perform her other WKF compulsory Kata, Seienchin, and took the
round with a 3 flags to 0 win. The 3rd round saw Aimee against EKK’s Alfie Wise and her Nipaipo Kata beat his Seipai Kata 3-0. The 4th round saw another 3-0 win for Aimee as her Seipai Kata took the win. Now in the semi-final, Aimee performed Chatanyara Kushanku
to good effect taking a 3-0 victory once again to make the final. After a long a grueling event, the final saw Aimee against Hanko-Ryu’s Sean Perry who’d also did a great job to make the final, the top girl and top boy from the category. Aimee performed Annan Kata whilst Sean
performed Unshu Kata. The decision went Aimee’s way giving her Gold on this occasion with a 3 flags to 0 win. This was a great result for Aimee and for Sean to come through so many rounds – great achievement.
The Kumite events soon got underway with Callum Alboni competing in the Mixed U9yrs category. Callum won his opening round with a 1-0 win and soon followed this up with a great 6-3 win in the 2nd round. The quarter-final round saw Callum’s winning streak come to
an end as he lost 2-0 leaving him just outside of the medal rounds. Unlucky Callum but did really well considering he’s just turned 7 years old. Also in this category was Aryan Ayerman. Aryan didn’t manage to progress beyond the opening round as Callum had, as he lost out 6-0
to prematurely end his day.
The Boys 9-10yrs category saw Ali Ayerman in action, but once again all too briefly as he suffered a 1st round exit just as Aryan had done, losing by a narrow 1-0 margin.
The Boys 11-15yrs, Under 45kg event saw Terry Morton enter the competition foray once again. Terry fought well dominating the fight but his opponent counter punched his way to victory as he picked off his advances and won the fight 3-0. Terry showed good spirit it wouldn’t
be long before he’s medaling if he becomes a regular squad member. Andrew Ayerman was also competing along side Terry in this category and like Terry he went out in the opening round too losing 8-3.
Shane Mitchell was in action in the Boys 11-15yrs, Under 50kg event which saw him progress into the 2nd round following his 1st round bye. Round 2 saw Shane win the fight 3-1 to make the semi-final round. Fighting for a place in the final, Shane
increased his work rate which paid dividends as he cruised into the final with a 6-0 win. The final proved a little tougher for Shane who eventually lost 3-0. Shane was unlucky to have a Jodan Mawashigiri kick ruled too hard near the death which may well have given him the victory
but is wasn’t to be on this occasion and Shane settled for excellent Silver.
Sophie Roberts was in the medals too after claiming a Bronze in the Girls 11-15yrs, Over 50kg event. Sophie narrowly won her opening round fight 2-1 in a close match but fought in an even closer one in the 2nd round as the fight went into extra time with
the scores level at 2-2. Sophie snatched the first point to progress into the next round. The semi-final round saw Sophie just lose out 5-4 after receiving a couple of warnings for contact with her Mawashigeri kicks. Had she’d not given away the points she would certainly have a
different coloured medal. As there were no joint thirds, Sophie had to fight off for bronze. Sophie once again took the fight into extra time but claimed the decisive point eventually wining 4-3 and claiming victory over opponent who had beaten her earlier in the year at the Youth
Games. Well done Sophie.
Finally Alex Sell rounded off the days proceedings with a final Gold in the Boys 11-15yrs, Over 50kg category. Alex started brightly winning his 1st round fight 8-0 within 30 seconds. The 2nd round fight saw Alex win 4-0 as his opponent decided
to pull out of the match after receiving a Mawsahigeri kick to his back. The 3rd round and yet another victory within 30 seconds as Alex landed a Sokutogeri on his oncoming opponent who failed to return to action after receiving medical attention. Alex’s 1-0 lead was not
required as the round was awarded to him again. The semi-final proved to be much more cagier affair with Alex facing an old adversary and friend, Harry Cannon. Both boys matched each other closely and the fight could have gone either way but Alex got the decisive point just before
the final whistle and ended the round winning 2-1. The final saw Alex against EKKA’s Craig Warren. The match was predictably close and went into extra time with the scores tied at 1-1. But it was Alex that got the extra point first that secured victory to earn himself his 2nd
medal of the day.
The squad finished the day with 2 Gold, 1 Silver and 2 Bronze medals but hopefully those not medaling on this occasion enjoyed the day too, especially Terry Morton was the least experienced of the squad to attend.
Squad: Callum Alboni, Ali Ayerman, Andrew Ayerman, Aryan Ayerman, Shane Mitchell, Terry Morton, Sophie Roberts, Aimee Sell, Alex Sell. |