| Aimee Sell was Shuhari-Kai's sole representative at the United Styles Association Open Championships held on Sunday 14th May 2006. Aimee travelled up to the Next Generation Gym in Dudley, West Midlands to compete in the Mixed 10-12yrs, 3rd
Kyu & Over Kata event. An interesting change of rules meant the Kata events were to have an opening round scored on points with the top eight going through to a knockout stage to be judged on flags. Well that was the plan.
Although the judges informed the competitors that they could perform the same Kata, their strongest, in each round if they wished, Aimee chose to mix up her Katas as much as possible for the competition experience as she usually does. Aimee performed
Bassai-Dai in the opening points scoring round and tied in 1st place with Vale Karate's Leah Copeland and another girl from Belgium. The top competitors made the knockout stages but as some had tied, the next round ended up with about 13 competitors in it with Aimee having to
do an additional 4 Katas.
The second round saw Aimee perform Seipai Kata and secure a 3 flags to nil win. Aimee then came up against a strong Vale Karate contender, Perrie Wilson, in round three. Aimee performed Nipaipo Kata and once again proved too strong for her opponent's Jion Kata winning 3
flags to nil once more. The semi-final saw Aimee against the strong Belgium girl who performed a good Seipai, but Aimee's Annan Kata had the judges flagging for Aimee once more securing another 3-0 win. The final saw Aimee against Vale Karate's other competitor, Leah Copeland,
who continued to perform her strong Jion Kata in this round. Aimee chose to perform Annan once more and secured gold by once again gaining a 3 flags to nil decision.
Aimee performed her Katas very well and enjoyed competing against some strong opponents in this tournament. The medals/trophies were presented at the end of the Kata rounds and Aimee collected another large trophy to add to her growing collection. |
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