Senior British International Championships   Sophie Roberts and Alex Sell from Shuhari-Kai Karate Club attended the Senior British International Karate Championships on Saturday 1st September 2007. The tournament had found a new home at the K2 Leisure Centre in Crawley and it has to be said that the venue got 10/10 for access, facilities and parking (free). The venue ticked all the right boxes and rumour has it that future British Karate events have found a new home.   In preparation for the new pending WKF categories, 14-15 year olds were included in this tournament which enabled Alex to attend too accompanying Sophie.   With 5 mats laid out, only 3 were used for the Kata events which commenced first featuring the 14-15 year olds and Cadet 16-17 year olds categories. Alex, competing in the Boys 14-15yrs Kata event started well winning his opening compulsory round 3-0 with Bassai-Dai Kata. Round two and it was Annan versus Annan Kata with Alex securing a 2-1 win. The semi-final round pitted Alex against a Belgium opponent but the Belgium’s Nipaipo didn’t match Alex’s Chatanyara Kushanku Kata and a 3-0 decision saw Alex take the victory. The final followed the repechage events and it was Alex versus Alex in the final, Sell versus Gardener. Both boys did well but our Alex’s Suparimpei took the votes 2-1 securing him the victory and Gold. We found out later that Alex Gardener was celebrating his 15th birthday the next day so many happy returns and sorry for spoiling your weekend.   Sophie was competing in the Girls Cadet 16-17yrs Kata event and this looked like one of the toughest groups to compete in. Sophie performed a good Unshu Kata in her opening round but was beaten by EKK’s Sophie Wise 3-0 who performed just that bit better on the day. Unfortunately Sophie W. didn’t make the final so Sophie R. never got the chance to try for bronze through the repechage rounds.   After a few hours the Boys 14-15yrs, U63kg Kumite event commenced on the 4th mat opened up for the Kumite categories. Alex’s performance in this category was pretty lacklustre to be honest and after going behind 1-0 early on to Kaizen’s Jordan Thomas, it took him almost to the final bell to pull it back. In extra-time Alex was beaten to the punch and Jordan went through eventually taking the title. Alex qualified for repechage and his next fight saw him once again finish on a tie with the scores 2-2 this time. This time Alex was first to score in extra time to make his progress to the repechage final where he went on to secure another win 3-0, this time and gain a Bronze. Even fighting below par, Alex managed to secure a medal which speaks volumes.   Now this only left Sophie to compete in her individual Kumite event but we had to wait a while... zzz.   In the meantime, the Boys 14-15yrs Team Kumite event was called. Vale Karate had entered a squad but an injury sustained by one of their team members (Elliot Evans) in his individual Kumite event meant they were a man short. Alex was asked if he’d like to join forces and accepted their offer.   Sophie was still waiting…zzz.   The team’s opening round saw the Welsh boys do all the hard work as Vale’s Rhys Davies secured a comfortable opening match win which was matched by Vale’s Scott Paramore leaving Alex to twiddle this thumbs. The next round pitted the team against the big hybrid Norwegian team who were top end of the 14-15yrs limit. Rhys opened up again for the team but let his opponent get the better of him suffering a narrow defeat. Scott took up the mantle next but found the going tough and took a battering as his opponent’s control left a lot to be desired. This didn’t look good for Scott, even after his opponent was disqualified for continual excessive contact. Alex then stepped into the fray needing only a draw to secure progression. Alex took an early 1 point lead but gave away a penalty point on the final bell to tie the score at 1-1 but that was enough to ensure the team had made the final.   And still Sophie waited…zzz.   The final was Ireland versus Wales, ONAKAI versus Vale. Once again up first for the team and undeterred by his earlier defeat, Rhys took the fight to his opponent and once an early lead had been established he easily picked off his opponent as he advanced trying to score leaving Rhys to clear up and take the win. As Scott was still suffering from his earlier fight, Alex stepped into the number two position. Alex ensured Scott’s services were not required as Alex secured a 2-0 win to ensure Vale went home with the title earning the squad another Gold.   Sophie Wake Up!   Eventually, Sophie was called into action in the Female Cadets, Over 57kg Kumite category. After 45 seconds Sophie caught her opponents arm as her opponent blocked her kick and she went off requiring medical attention leaving Sophie with a disqualification on her hands. A long, long, wait and a frustrating end to the day after what looked like a certain medal for Sophie.     Verdict: Venue 10/10 Facilities excellent. Parking ample and free. Padded spectator seating. Organisation 6/10 The individual categories should have been played out before commencing team categories (IMO). A maximum of only 4 mats were running concurrently at any one time out of the 5 available. With only 350 competitors, the tournament didn’t finish until gone 10:00pm. Repechage was cancelled for the later categories due to time restraints. Mirror judging was adopted towards the end of the evening.