 A welcome return to form for the Shuhari-Kai squad who competed at the United Kingdom Open Championships on Sunday 12th
February 2006. Six Shuhari-Kai students travelled to Dudley in the West Midlands hoping to recapture their form of 2005 after some disappointing results in the recent British International Championships. The squad produced some excellent displays and brought home four Golds
between them for their efforts.
The Kata events were first and the Mixed 13-15yrs 5th Kyu+ saw Jodie Miles, Shane Mitchell and Alex Sell all in action together. The first round saw Jodie take a 3-0 win for her Seienchin Kata, Alex also won 3-0 with Seienchin whilst Shane chose to
perform Bassai-Dai winning 3-0 too. Unfortunately the organisers hadn't split club team-mates up so the second round saw Jodie and Alex against eachother. Alex performed Nipaipo with Jodie performing Seipai and Jodie took the split decision to make the semi-finals. Shane lost
out too in the second round after also performing Nipaipo on a split 2-1 decision. The semi-final saw Jodie secure a 3-0 win with Bassai Kata to make the final. Jodie then secured the squads first gold by taking a 2-1 decision with her Nipaipo Kata.
Meanwhile, Aimee Sell was competing in the Mixed 10-12yrs 5th Kyu+ and she made a good start with 3-0 win with her Bassai-Dai Kata. The second round saw Aimee perform Seienchin and once again secure a 3-0 win. Round three and saw Aimee drop her only flag as she won
2-1 after performing Nipaipo. Aimee won the fourth round semi-final 3-0 after performing Annan and secured the squads second gold of the day following her 3-0 final win for her Seienchin Kata.
The squads only other Kata competitor was Callum Alboni competing in the Mixed 9yrs and under category. Callum made an early exit in this event after losing 3-0 after performing Pinan Shodan. Callum also made another early exit in his Kumite event, the Boys Under
4'3'' 9yrs and below category. Although Callum received a first round bye, Callum lost out 8-0 in the next round. At only six years old, Callum did well to compete in this competition against some much older competitors.
The Boys 13-15yrs, 5'2'' and over category saw Alex Sell in action. Alex opened up his account with a convincing 5-3 win opening up a gap in points towards the end of the fight to cruise home. The next round was the semi-final and Alex picked off his opponent to to
ease to a 8-0 win. The final saw Alex against an opponent a good 4-5 inches taller and a good 2-3 stone heavier but Alex was the quicker of the two and opened up a 3-0 lead. With 10 seconds remaining Alex let the lead slip to finally claim a 3-2 victory and the squads third
Gold of the day.
Shane Mitchell was up next and although a number of competitors were listed in the Boys 13-15yrs Under 5'2'' category, only three lined up. Shane had an automatic bye into the final and watched while the solitary semi-final took place. Shane's opponent in the final
had won a tough semi-final encounter and looked to give Shane a hard time. This was the case initially as Shane fell to a 5-2 deficit early on. But Shane settled into a rhythm and picked the points off his opponent pressing his opponent all the time. The final score ended 11-6
in Shane's favour for him to claim a gold and make it four for the squad.
Our last competitor of the day was Dean Bannister competing in the Cadets 16-18yrs event. Dean made an impressive start to his campaign winning his opening round match 8-4. The opponents were evenly matched early on but at 4-4 Dean's quick hands had him picking off
his opponent to ease away for the victory. Unfortunately for Dean, his next round opponent was very experienced and won the encounter 3-0 to end Deans medal hopes.
The squad did well with a welcome return to form for Aimee and Jodie in Kata. Alex fought well as ever looked sharp. Callum did well to compete against older opponents and gained some valuable experience, as did Dean who keeps improving all the time. A big well done to Shane
on claiming his first Gold for the squad and here's to getting some more.
NOTE: Please click on any photo in the right-hand margin to ENLARGE.
SQUAD: Callum Alboni, Dean Bannister, Jodie Miles, Shane Mitchell, Aimee Sell, Alex Sell. |
