Toyakwai Essex Open Championships   A small squad of three Shuhari-Kai students, Aimee Sell, Alex Sell and Sophie Roberts,  entered the Toyakwai Essex Open Championships held in Clacton on Sunday 29th April 2007. Due to various reasons (injury, etc) all three opted to compete only in the Kata events making this a very short day for them for a change.   Alex Sell competed in the Mixed U16yrs, Dan Grade (Black Belt) Kata category with 7 other competitors up against him. Alex was drawn about mid table and performed Chatanyara Kushanku Kata which scored him 7.6, 7.4 & 7.4 from the three judges totalling 22.4 putting Alex into the lead at this stage. A few more excellent Chatanyara Kushanku  Kata displays from the Ishinryu competitors of Mark Hansford and Emma Lucraft (who failed to beat Alex’s score by 0.1) made for a nail-biting finish but Alex managed to hold on to his slender lead to claim Gold with Emma claiming Silver and Mark in joint Bronze along side Gojo’s George Mole who’s Suparimpei Kata was performed  to it’s usual high standard.   The Senior Mixed Dan Grade Kata event saw Sophie Roberts enter this category for the first time as she has just turned 16yrs old. She was certainly up against it with not only being the youngest competitor in this group and competing against senior men too, she also had a couple of England squad members to contend with. Certainly a daunting task for anyone. Sophie performed Unshu Kata and scored 7.2, 7.2 & 7.1 from the three judges totalling 21.5 which left her in 5th place overall. That was a great result given the field she competed in so well done Sophie.   Last of the Shuhari-Kai trio was young Aimee Sell who competed in the U16yrs, 3-1st Kyu, Under 4’10’’ category. Aimee had 14 competitors in her category and was drawn towards the bottom end of the draw. When called, Aimee performed Annan Kata which scored her 7.4, 7.3 & 7.1 from the three judges totalling 21.8 putting her into a decisive lead which she held on to give her Gold. Jack Newey claimed Silver in this event with Gojo’s Emily Sharland sharing Bronze. A very good performance from both Jack and Aimee had left them both well clear of the rest of the field.   Aimee and Jack then teamed up with Jack’s sister, Rachel to enter the U16ys Mixed Team Kata event entering as ‘Barking Abbey B’ team. They were up against about a dozen other teams and performed their Kata, Annan, extremely well with some good synchronisation and timing between them. The judges scored their Kata 7.2, 7.2 & 7.1 totalling 21.5 which left them 0.1 behind the leaders but tied in 2nd place with ‘Barking Abbey A’ who consisted of Emma Lucraft, Nicola Taylor and Mark Hansford. Both teams lying in Silver position had to perform another Kata in order to determine the final medal positions. ‘Barking Abbey A’ performed Annan which scored them 7.2, 7.2 & 7.1 whilst ‘Barking Abbey B’ performed Bassai-Dai giving them a score of 7.3, 7.3 & 7.2 and the Silver leaving their team mate rivals in joint third picking up a Bronze.   And with that the day was over – plenty of time to go into Clacton on the Sea Front for some much need R&R.  Well done to all the competitors who entered.