Scottish International Championships 2009

2009-04-04

10 members of the SKA squad competed at the much anticipated Scottish Open Championships on the 4th – 5th April 2009 at the Meadowbank Stadium, Edinburgh. The last time they were at this venue was in May 2008 for the Commonwealth Championships but they did not attend the Scottish Open this time last year. After being made aware of last year’s high standard, they decided it was worth the long journey to compete there this year and knew they had their work cut out if they were going to take home medals.

It was a 2 day event with coach Clare Bonello being the sole competitor to compete on the Saturday. She has had very little training since her hamstring injury in June last year but she did not want to miss out on a good opportunity to compete at a prestigious competition. It was the largest group she has competed in for a few years but she made it to the final where she lost 4-1 to Ashleigh Kenny who also beat her at the English Championships in March this year. She was however thrilled with her silver and would like to thank Chloe, Lisa, Michael and Lewis for going along to support her.

On the original paperwork there were no events for team kata, but when they arrived on the Sunday they saw this had been updated and there was a boys and girls team kata event. The SKA decided to enter 2 teams even though they had no or little preparation. The 3 boys (Lewis Holmes, Michael Holmes and Edward Van Meerkerk) were put together for the first time and after a very disastrous warm up they really pulled it together when they went out on the mats. They even attracted some attention as they were seen to be extremely good for their size and young Lewis Holmes, who is 6yrs old, was the recipient of lots of congratulations for being outstanding for his age. The triumphant trio made it to the final after winning 3 rounds 3-0 and only lost in the final to a much older, stronger set of boys. They did the club proud and took home a silver. The SKA girls team were also entered but haven’t had much training as a team for a while. They work well together and they also won 3 rounds to get the final where they lost on a split decision but took home a silver to match the boys. Well done to Chloe Pharo, Ellie Barton and Sian Barton who have a promising future together.

The individual kata finally got underway and all of the youngsters were on simultaneous areas at the same time. British and English Champion Michael Holmes was the favourite to win his group but was disqualified in the first round after performing Anan incorrectly. He will still be in the 9yrs and under group next year so still has a chance to add a Scottish title to his repertoire! Younger brother, 6yr old Lewis Holmes, went through one round but lost on a split decision in the 2nd round. He will surely be a strong contender in this group soon though. Edward Van Meerkerk, who has recently turned 10yrs old, did extremely well to win 3 rounds in the 10-12yrs boys kata but lost to a much bigger, stronger boy in the quarter final. He still has 2 years in this group so there are high hopes for him next time.

The girls faired better than the boys with 5th kyu Toni Sherring taking a bronze in the 9yrs and under kata. She is new to this level of competing and will also be back next year in the same group! Chloe Pharo, Katie Pharo, Bethany Scoulding, Ellie Barton and Sian Barton all competed in the 10-12yrs girls kata. There were some odd decisions amongst many correct decisions but eventually Sian Barton made it to the final where she stole the gold for SKA. All of the girls performed well whether they medalled or not and well done to Sian for becoming Scottish Open Champion of 2009. She has 2 years left in this group so will be back to defend her title!

Kumite is still the weaker discipline for the squad but Michael Holmes pulled out a bronze after 5 tough rounds in the 9yrs and under open weight. Lewis was too young to fight and Edward lost in the first round of his group after extra time.

The girls again came out ahead of the boys with Katie Pharo taking a silver in her group of much more experienced fighters, including some European competitors. She did particularly well as she is only a 6th kyu! Bethany had to pull out due to illness and Toni fought well but lost in her first round to an Armenian competitor. Ellie is improving a lot but did not manage to medal, along with Chloe who also fought well but missed out on the medal stages.

The overall medal tally for the SKA team was 1 gold, 4 silvers and 2 bronze which is outstanding for a competition of this level. Well done to Reece Taylor of Hanko Ryu who continued his winning streak by taking gold in the senior male kata. Coach Clare said, ‘I was a very proud coach and would like to congratulate everybody from Hanko Ryu who competed and did the association proud!

Oosshhaaa!’

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