|
 Our first competition of the year was upon us once more and it was straight into the thick of it. The British International European Grand
Prix event is one of the largest and most prestigious tournaments in England and so this couldn’t be treated as a light warm-up for the coming season, no, this was happy New Year and GO! Being on the radar for a while the squad prepared well for this tournament and came home
with two Gold medals, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze medal, a much improved set of results from last year where we only managed to a gain a solitary Bronze.
The tournament was held on the weekend of 20-21st January 2007 but had switched venues from the usual Crystal Palace to Kingston College in Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey. It has to be said that the
venue was a bit of a let down – it was too cramped with not enough seating, it was too hot with the air conditioning not turned on until about 2:00pm on Saturday, the hall was being shared with a trampoline club which meant only half the hall was available for Karate on the
first day, no flash photography was allowed as it put the trampoliners off, the parking outside and local car parks were a rip-off at £1.20 per hour, no food was allowed to be consumed in the sports hall because there were no cleaners available to clean up afterwards, the
spectators fees were £10 per person (inc. 12yrs & over) on both days, the Kumite repechage rounds were abandoned due to events running severely behind schedule – and yet we still went... and went back on Sunday! To be honest, for a major international event, the venue was a bit
of a joke. Enough moaning, now on to the tournament.
The first events on Saturday were the Kata events. Shuhari-Kai’s Aimee Sell was up first for the squad competing in the Girls 10-11yrs event. Aimee received a 1st round bye straight to the
quarter finals where she then performed Seienchin Kata. Aimee scored all three judges flags to make the next round. The semi-final round saw Aimee perform Nipaipo Kata and once again a 3-0 decision took her into the next round – the final. After the completion of the repechage
rounds, Aimee was up against Yamaguchi’s Emily Sharland in the final. Emily performed her Kata first with Aimee performing her Kata, Annan, second. Both girls performed well but the decision went Aimee’s way once more taking the title with a 3-0 win. Yet another title for Aimee
who’s list of titles just keeps getting longer and longer. She now holds the current British International and English National Kata titles.
The Girls 12-13yrs saw Jade Lewis in action. Jade performed Seienchin Kata in her opening round but lost 3 flags to 0. Jade’s victor made the finals thereby allowing Jade into the repechage rounds. Jade
performed Bassai-Dai in her 1st repechage round but once again lost out 3-0 to dash her medal hopes.
The Girls 14-15yrs had both Sophie Roberts and Jodie Miles competing together. This was a particularly tough group and tougher for Jodie as she was at the bottom end of the age scale. Jodie
performed Bassai-Dai Kata in her opening round but was unlucky to loose 2 flags to 1. Jodie’s opponent failed to make the final dashing Jodie’s hope of medalling in repechage. Sophie received a 1st round bye in this event but she failed to make it past the 2nd
round as her Bassai-Dai Kata was also beaten 2 flags to 1.
The final Kata competitor was Alex Sell competing in the Boys 14-15yrs event. Alex’s 1st round opponent was from Malta and although he performed a strong Kata, Alex’s Bassai-Dai took the
decision 3 flags to 0. The 2nd round saw Alex progress once more as his Seienchin Kata beat his opponents Seienchin Kata 3-0. With the Shitei Katas out of the way, the 3rd round saw Alex perform Annan Kata and beat his opponents Unsu Kata 3-0 to make the
semi-finals. The semis saw Alex drawn against Yamaguchi’s George Mole. Georges’s Kata are looking quite sharp these days but Alex’s Chatanyara Kushanku Kata was just that bit sharper giving him a 2-1 win and guaranteed medal. After a short delay whilst the repechage rounds were
completed, the final got underway which saw Alex pitted against Wales’ Nick Hooper. With a slight wobble in his Kata Nick left the door open for Alex to claim victory winning 3 flags to 0 with his Suparimpei Kata. This is Alex’s 2nd British International Kata title
to go with a bronze gained in 2005, an impressive tally. Alex now holds both current British National and British International Kata titles.
After the Kata events had completed, the Kumite events got underway. Vishaal Dovedi competed in the Boys 10-11yrs, Over 45kg event. Vishaal failed to make into the 2nd round as he lost out 3-0
in the opening round.
The Girls 12-13yrs, Under 50kg event saw Jade Lewis take to the mats. Unfortunately for Jade her participation on the mat was short lived as she lost out 2-0 in her opening round match.
Jodie Miles competed in the Girls 14-15yrs, Under 54kg category and received a 1st round bye into the next round. The 2nd round saw Jodie just fail to progress further as she was
narrowly beaten 1-0.
Sophie Roberts claimed a Bronze in the Girls 14-15yrs, Over 54kg event. Sophie received a 1st round bye but went on to win the 2nd round with ease beating her opponent 6-1. The 3rd
round saw Sophie progress once more as she won her match 3-1. Now in the semi-finals Sophie took her opponent all the way but both girls failed to score in normal time. In extra time Sophie’s opponent just beat her to the punch to score the decisive point and win the match
leaving Sophie to settle for Bronze this time. Well done Sophie on gaining a British International medal.
Sunday saw the remaining Kumite events take place – that of the older male and female categories. In the Boys 14-15yrs, Under 63KG event, Alex Sell got off to a reasonable start winning his opening round
match 3-0 against the Maltese opponent he beat in his Kata event. The 2nd round saw a much tighter affair which went all the way to the judge’s decision with both fighters failing to score. Alex got the nod on this occasion. The next round semi-final saw Alex go into
extra time once more, this time Alex scored first in extra time to complete the win. Without the repechage rounds, it was straight into the final. Alex started brightly but failed to score cleanly. After dropping a point he gave away a penalty point and eventually lost 2-0
having to settle for Silver on this occasion. None-the-less this was a good result for Alex adding this Kumite Silver to his earlier Kata Gold.
The squads’ last competitor was Elle Ayerman competing in the Female Cadet Over 57kg category. Elle had a 1st round bye but then found she had a tough 2nd round draw and lost out
8-0 before her 2 minute time expired. Even though she lost out, she enjoyed the experience and gained some more valuable experience.
All-in-all the squad performed well and showed some much improved performances on last year. The squad has got off to a good start and 2007 looks like being an exciting year for them.
Squad: Elle Ayerman, Vishaal Dovedi, Jade Lewis, Jodie Miles, Sophie Roberts, Aimee Sell, Alex Sell.
|