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 Sunday 14th October 2007 saw 9 students
from Shuhari-Kai travel to Meopham in Kent to compete in the Meopham Junior Open Championships hosted by Ken-No-Sen. Shuhari-Kai has supported Ken-No-Sen for a number of years now and always enjoys the
hospitality that we receive.
Kata started the day on the two mats with Brandon Halling in the Novice to 7th Kyu, 9 to 15 years. Brandon performed Pinan Nidan and scored a total of 20.2 which was enough
to give him the silver medal.
Next up in the 6th to 4th Kyu, under 8 years was Callum Alboni. Callum performed Pinan Sandan and scored 20.4 which left him just outside the medal tally.
Billie Lowry entered the 6th to 4th Kyu, 9 years and above section and performed Kushanku
in her first round scoring 20.7 putting her through to the last 4. Billie then performed Seienchin and won 2 flags to 1. In the final round she went back to Kushanku but was not able to beat her opponent and lost 3 flags to 0 but still managed to get the silver medal.
Jodie Miles was next up in the Dan grade, 15 years and under section. Jodie performed Bassai-Dai and scored
21.3, which put her in tied place with two other competitors. She then performed Unshu as her tie break Kata and scored 21.6. This put her through to the last 4. Jodie then performed Annan in the semi-final and won the round 2 flags to 1. Now in the final Jodie decided to
perform Ni-Pi-Po but was unable to take the win and lost out 3 flags to 0, but like her other club mates she also received a silver medal.
Jodie Miles and Sophie Roberts entered the Cadet section next. Jodie performed Unshu and scored 21.4
which again put her in tied place to get to the last 4. She then performed Bassai-Dai and scored 21.3 which wasn’t enough to put her through to the next round. Sophie next and she performed Unshu and scored 21.4 which like Jodie put her in tied place. Sophie then performed
Chatanyara Kushanku and scored 21.4 which took her through to the semi-final where she performed Annan but lost 3 flags to 0. However Sophie did enough to receive the bronze medal in this event.
Kumite was next. Callum Alboni and Aryan Ayerman were our first fighters and they went into the boy’s under 4’2” category. They were amongst 5 other competitors so the organiser
decided to do a round robin with all 5 students (a bit different from a round robin we know). Callum was first up and won his first round 5 points to 0, unfortunately he lost his next round 4 points to 3, he then went on to win his next round 3 points to 0, then lost his next 2
points to 1. Aryan was then up but didn’t manage to get into the competition as he lost both his rounds 8 points to 0 then 5 points to 1. After adding up all the points Callum received the silver medal with Aryan getting bronze.
Brandon was in the boy’s 4’2” to 4’8” novice to 6th Kyu category. Brandon also had a round robin,
and he went out with all guns blazing taking the first round 6 points to 3. His next round was much easier with him winning 8 points to 1. His third round was not as pleasing as he lost out 8 points to 1 but he did pick up another silver medal to add to his up and coming
collection.
Brandon’s brother Jordan Hodges was next on the mat in the 4’8” to 5’2” category. Jordan had a first round bye
then went on to win his next round 5 points to 4, but was unlucky in the semi-final round losing 8 points to 2. But Jordan did get a bronze. Ali Ayerman was also with Jordan but lost his first round 6 points to 3 failing to gain a medal.
Andrew Ayerman was moved up a section as he measured in taller than we expected. Now with the bigger lads
Andrew knew he had some tough opposition. Andrew fought well but was unable to score before his opponent and lost out 9 points to 1.
Billie Lowry was our first girl up in the girls 4’2” to 4’8”, 5th kyu to Dan grade. As like some of
the other matches Billie also had a round robin (if that’s what you call it). Billie lost her first fight 8 points to 1, but managed to win her next fight after her opponent pulled out with a bad arm. She then went on to lose her next round 2 points to 1 but did get a bronze
medal.
Sophie Roberts was our last competitor for the day. Sophie was entered into the Cadet section. Sophie’s first
round saw her win 7 points to 0. She then went on to win 5 points to 1 in round two. Her third round final was a little too close for our liking, it was 3 – 3 until the last second when Sophie managed to find her legs and executed a lovely Mawashigeri to receive an extra 2
points and make the final score 5 points to 3 which gave her a well deserved gold medal.
Well done to everyone who took part, the squad gained 1 gold, 5 silver, and 4 bronze medals.
Squad. Callum Alboni, Ali Ayerman, Aryan Ayerman, Andrew Ayerman, Brandon Halling, Jordan Hodges, Billie Lowry, Jodie Miles and Sophie Roberts.
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