2nd South West Open Karate Championships   Hutton Moor Leisure Centre was the venue for the 2nd South West Open Karate Championships held on Sunday 17th June 2007. Not only had the date changed from last year’s inaugural event held in October, but the venue had changed too due to the shear number of entries received last time and the expected number this time round. The venue had a larger capacity with extra tiered seating which allowed the spectators a better view of the action.  Four Shuhari-Kai students participated in this event, Alex and Aimee Sell, who took part last year, accompanied this time by Shane Mitchell and Callum Alboni both taking part for the first time.   As expected the categories were extremely large with many 5 round and a few 6 round events taking place. Callum was taking part in the Mixed 4th Kyu & Below, Under 10 Years Kata event. An extremely large category saw Callum go out in the first round as his Pinan Yodan Kata was beaten 3 flags to 0. Unlucky Callum but he still had his favoured Kumite event to come.   The Girls 10-15 Years, 3rd Kyu and Above category saw Aimee competing in this 5 round event, and Aimee found the draw extremely loaded one side with three English Nationals Champions all drawn together in the top half of the draw. Although Aimee was the defending champion from last year she now faced an insurmountable challenge to hold on to her crown. Aimee received a 1st round bye and then performed Bassai-Dai in the 2nd round winning the match 3-0 only to meet fellow Emerson Park School mate and fellow National Champion Emma Lucraft in the 3rd round. Both girls performed Annan Kata but Aimee, who only just celebrated her 12th birthday the day before, couldn’t match the power of Emma and lost out 3 flags to 0. Emma went on the face another National Champion, Rachel Newey, in the semi-finals and a narrow victory there saw her go on to win the final. Well done Emma and unlucky Aimee – next time.   The Boys 10-15 Years, 3rd Kyu and Above category was massive with approximately 60 competitors competing making this a six round event. The category was split into two pools with Alex competing in pool A and Shane competing in pool B. Alex started the defence of his title well performing Seienchin Kata and securing a 3-0 win. The 2nd round saw Alex secure another 3-0 win as his WKF compulsory Bassai-Dai Kata took the flags once more to see him into the next round. The 3rd round saw Alex drawn against Nick Hooper from Wales. Nick is an exceptional Kata exponent and Alex perceived him as a major threat leading him to perform Suparimpei Kata. Alex won that round 3-0 the make the quarter-finals where he performed Annan Kata to secure another 3-0 win to make the pool finals and overall category semi-final. Before that was held, the second pool event was run to get that pool up to the same ‘pool final’ level. Shane was competing in this pool and after receiving a 1st round bye performed Seienchin Kata in the 2nd round securing a good 3-0 win. The 3rd round saw Shane perform a good Nipaipo Kata but the judges voted 2 flags to 1 against Shane leaving him just outside of the medal positions. Very unlucky Shane, thought you had that one. Eventually the two pool finals commenced with Alex facing Gojo’s John Green in the ‘Pool A’ final. Alex performed Unshu Kata which was good enough to take him into the final after receiving all 3 flags from the judges. The final pitted Alex against a young Perrie Wilson from Wales who’d done remarkably well to make the final himself. However, Alex’s strength and power was just too much for young Perrie as Alex once again took all 3 judges flags following his Chatanyara Kushanku Kata. This category had started at 10:00am and had finally finished at 2:15pm. Alex hasn’t competed in a six round event for quite some time and it was good for him to go all the way through and plan out tactically which Katas to perform against which opponent. Although this wasn’t the most prestigious tournament, it was certainly one of the most hotly contested and a result for Alex to win without dropping a single flag.   The Kumite events saw Callum competing in the Boys Mixed 5-7 Years event. Callum made a great start to his campaign as he eased his way to a 7-1 win in his opening round match. The 2nd round saw Callum disqualified while the scores were tied at 3-3. Whilst competing, Callum’s opponent managed to bite Callum’s finger and as he wouldn’t let go Callum struck him in the face, just as a gentle reminder of course… The referee obviously didn’t agree with Callum’s tack ticks which lead to his dismissal. Not sure why his opponent escaped punishment but Callum took the early opportunity to seek medical advice. Thankfully there was no real damage done although Callum did refuse to give the medics any of his details – just in case they were taking down his particulars in preparation for surgery. Ahhh.   The Boys 14-15 Years Kumite category saw both Alex and Shane in action with Shane up 1st after receiving a 1st round bye. Shane made a good opening round start holding out for a 4-3 win after leading 3-0 at one point. The 3rd round saw Shane take on a much bigger and aggressive opponent who initially took the fight to Shane, but Shane held firm and picked off a nice Gyakuzuki punch near the end to beat his opponent 1-0. The 3rd round also saw Alex finally in action following his 1st and 2nd round byes! Alex kept his 3rd round opponent busy as he took an early lead and saw out a 4-1 victory to meet his next opponent in the quarter-finals – Shane of all people as boys were drawn against each other in this match, typical. Alex and Shane had a good, light-hearted match with both smiling and chuckling their way through the match. Alex emerge a 6-0 winner and thankfully both remain good friends. The semi-final match was a total contrast to Alex’s previous match with his opponent much more aggressive. Both boys were warned for contact, grabbing, holding, etc, but Alex stood his ground well and battled his way to an 8-2 victory. The final saw Alex against Vale’s Rhys Davies who looked in fine form throughout. Rhys took an early 2 point lead and stole another point mid-way through the match as Alex tried to get himself back in the match. Unfortunately Alex was unable to break down Rhys’s defence and had to settle for Silver this time. Well done Rhys, a deserved win and well done Alex for seeing out such a gruelling day.   The squad returned home with 1 Gold and 1 Silver and a little bit wiser for their experience.   Squad: Callum Alboni, Shane Mitchell, Aimee Sell, Alex Sell.