 Alex and Aimee Sell accompanied by Sophie Roberts from Shuhari-Kai Karate Club travelled to Welsh Institute of Sport, Cardiff, Wales, to compete in the Welsh Open
National Karate Championships held on Sunday 18th November 2007.
The Welsh Championships is always well attended and provides the kids with some stiff opposition to keep them working hard.
The Girls 12-15yrs, 3rd Kyu & Over Kata category saw Aimee Sell in action. Aimee started well performing Seienchin Kata and winning the round with all 3 flags. The 2nd round saw Aimee continue her winning ways with a 2 flags to 1 win for her
Bassai-Dai Kata. Aimee performed Annan Kata in the 3rd round and progressed into the semi-finals with a 3-0 win. The 4th round saw Aimee perform Seipai Kata and once again a comfortable 3-0 win saw her into the final. The 5th round final pitted Aimee against Ishinryu's Emma
Lucraft once again. Both girls performed Chatanyara Kushanku but Emma secured victory with a 3 flags to 0 win leaving Aimee to settle for a well earned Silver. It had been a while since Aimee has had to compete in a 5 round event and it was good to see all her Katas
still in sparkling form.
Alex Sell competed in the Boys 12-15yrs, 3rd Kyu & Over Kata category and like Aimee started off his campaign with a 3 flags to 0 win following his performance of Seienchin Kata. The 2nd round saw Alex perform Unshu Kata and secure another
3 flags to 0 win. Round 3 and Alex's performance of Suparimpei saw another successive 3-0 win booking his place in the final. The final saw Alex perform Chatanyara Kushanku Kata and a 2-1 win was enough for Alex to claim his umpteenth Welsh Gold.
The Female Cadet Kata category saw Sophie Roberts in action. In her opening round Sophie performed Unshu Kata but was unlucky as the judges voted against her 3 flags to 0 leaving her out of the medal positions. Sophie didn't fail much better in the
Female Cadet Kumite category as she once again lost in her opening round 8-0. This was definitely an off day for Sophie, but she took it well and will come back stronger and more determined next time.
The Boys 13-15yrs Kumite category saw Alex in action and he started well securing an opening round win 4 pints to 3. The 2nd round saw Alex secure a 1-0 win to see him through to the quarter-finals. The 3rd round saw Alex unfortunately disqualified as
his Chudan Mawashigeri kick 20 seconds into the fight was judged to be too hard as his opponent limped out of the match. Oh well.
SQUAD: Sophie Roberts, Aimee Sell, Alex Sell.
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