 Alex and Sophie scoop Silvers at British Championships.
Alex Sell and Sophie Roberts competed at the recent British Karate Federation Championships which were held in Ponds Forge, Sheffield, on 6th & 7th September 20008. Alex competed in the Male Junior Kata event on the Saturday but failed to claim a medal
finishing 5th overall. Alex performed Bassai-Dai for his opening round Kata but lost out to the eventual finalist. Alex secured a place in the repechage rounds and won through to the repechage final but narrowly lost as as his Suparimpei Kata was beaten 2 flags to 1.
Day two saw both Alex and Sophie in action in the Kumite events. Sophie competed in the Girls 16-17yrs Open weight event initially and won her opening round 5-0. Sophie's 2nd round saw her improve her performance winning 10-1 to make the 3rd round,
however in a very close match Sophie was just beaten 3-4 in round 3 and missed out on the chance for repechage as her victor also lost out in the next round. Not disheartened Sophie went on to compete in the Girls 16-17yrs, Over 59kg event. Sophie made a bright start once again
winning the match 5-1. The 2nd round also went to Sophie 3-0. Round 3 was a lot close with the 5-5 match going into extra time. Sophie was the first to score and progressed to the semi-finals. Sophie had another unbelievable close match which went to 5-5 again and once again
Sophie was the first to score in extra time securing her place in the final. The final once again went down to the wire with Sophie letting her 4-3 lead slip in the final seconds and once again extra time ensured with the scores tied at 4-4. Unfortunately for Sophie, this
time she didn't score first and had to settle for silver. Nonetheless this was a great result taking it to the wire and just missing out on gold. Well done Sophie.
Like Sophie, Alex also competed in two events commencing with the boys 16-17yrs Open weight event. Alex received a 1st round bye before securing a place in the 3rd round following his win in the 2nd round after his opponent was disqualified after picking up
too many warnings. The 4th round saw Alex just miss out as he lost out 0-1 in a close match. Through to repechage Alex won his semi-final round 7-2 but once again lost out 0-1 whilst competing in the repechage final just missing out on a bronze medal. Alex then competed
in the Boys 16-17yrs Under 68kg event. Alex won his opening round 2-1 in a close match but the 2nd round was even closer as he drew 2-2 to take the match into extra time. Alex scored first and progressed to the semi-finals where he won the match 4-1. The final was a close
affair between him and his Scottish opponent and like Sophie the final went into extra time with the scores tied at 1-1 and like Sophie, Alex lost out deemed 2nd to score as flags went both ways but the referee going for his opponent. Alex was still pleased and congratulated
his opponent on beating him.
As both Alex and Sophie found out, the margin between winning and losing can be so small but to make the finals is a great achievement in itself. Well done and now on to England selections.
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