Welsh Open Karate
Championships 2008
The Welsh Open Championships
took place on Sunday 3rd August 2008, at the Welsh Institute of
sport in Cardiff. There was England squad training on the same
day which meant many English competitors did not attend the
championships but it was still popular with many Welsh clubs in
attendance. The SKA squad do not qualify to train with the
England squad as they are too young so coach Clare decided it
would be beneficial for them to attend the Welsh Championships
in preparation for the British Championships in September.
The whole squad attended, apart from Bethany who was
away, and overall the squad came away with 5 gold, 4
silver and 3 bronze medals. 9 of these came from kata and only 3 from kumite. The kata results were
superb with the SKA taking 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 5th
place in the 9 and under kata. TONI SHERING, EDWARD
VAN MEERKERK and LEWIS HOLMES were all in the same
half of the draw so it was impossible for them all
to medal and MICHAEL HOLMES was on his own in the
other half. Michael made it to the final after 4
rounds and managed not to repeat throughout. Lewis
went through one round but lost to Edward in the
quarter final. Toni lost to Edward in the semi final
so she took a well earned BRONZE and Edward made it
to the final with Michael. Both Edward and Michael
tried a new kata in the all SKA final where Michael
won the GOLD after using 5 different katas and
EDWARD took SILVER in a tough group. Well done to
all of the competitors in this group who are
continually working hard, learning and improving.
The girls finally had a group of their own age and
although it was mixed, this proved no problem. ELLIE
BARTON was unlucky not to make it to the final but
she took BRONZE in her half of the draw. SIAN BARTON
and CHLOE PHARO won 2 rounds each to meet in the
semi final where Sian scraped through 2-1. Sian went
on to win the final 3-0 to take GOLD and Chloe had
to settle for BRONZE in the 10-11yrs mixed kata.
They all however have a lot of work before the
British where the rules are different and repetition
of katas is not allowed!
Kata golds were also won by ROD BARTON in the adult,
4th kyu and below section. It was his third
competition and after a lot of improvement and
determination he finally won the GOLD! CLARE BONELLO
took the senior female GOLD after 3 rounds and
although she hasn’t trained due a hamstring injury
she managed to do just enough to take the gold for
SKA. Newcomer
KATIE PHARO took a well earned SILVER in the 15yrs
and under, 4th kyu and below. LOUISE HICKS was
unlucky to face the eventual winner in the first
round but she performed a new kata very well and
only lost 2-1. RYAN BEAVINGTON went out in the 1st
round of the boys 12-15yrs kata but his katas are
continually improving and his hard kata training
will compliment his kumite training.
There was no team kata event but there was team
kumite. EDWARD VAN MEERKERK, MICHAEL HOLMES, TONI
SHERING and KATIE PHARO took SILVER in the 9yrs and
under team event, whilst LOUISE HICKS, CHLOE PHARO,
ELLIE BARTON and SIAN BARTON won the GOLD in the
girls 10-11yrs team event.
The only other kumite medal came from LOUISE HICKS
and she won SILVER in the girls 10-11yrs event.
Overall the squad of 12 competitors won 12 medals
between them. Well done to all the competitors,
another great set of results. Thanks to Lisa and Rod
for their invaluable help coaching and thanks to
everybody who once again came and supported.
(Photos coming soon - thanks to Mick and Lisa for
those)
OSSSHHHAAAAAAA
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