Wadokai European Championships 2008 - Romania

On the 1st and 2nd of November 2008, 3 senior members of John Moreton’s Woodford Dojo represented their country, at the 36th European Wado-Kai cup held in Romania.

There were 15 countries in total competing, with England being one of the larger ones with a total of 26 competitors. The morning started off with the junior events, followed by the opening ceremony at mid-day on the 1st day of the competition. Barry Meanwell from Wado-UK had been selected as team captain and flag bearer for the England team, and following on were Jamie and Chris Fenton his Woodford team-mates.

Barry, Jamie & Chris were all in separate weight classes, and Jamie was first to compete in the under 75kg division. After a close battle with one of the Russian fighters, Jamie narrowly missed his chance at moving into the semi finals.

Chris was next to compete and this was to be a big day for him, in his first European competition and on his 22nd birthday!! It was to be one of the hardest fights of the day, with points being won and lost on both sides due to excessive contact, Chris unfortunately losing out to his opponent who was to make it to the final. This put Chris in the repechage and made him even more determined to secure a medal. That is exactly what he did in convincing style winning a bronze medal. This also gave England their first senior medal of the day

Last out of the 3 Wado-UK members to fight was Barry, in the over 80kg section. After a tough 3 minute battle, the score was 6-6 with 2 seconds to go, Barry relaxed his guard for a second, and his Macedonian opponent saw his chance and took it. This left no time for Barry to come back, going to show at this level, you can’t afford to relax for a second. Barry was to then emulate Chris’s earlier achievements in the repechage rounds, winning a convincing bronze medal against a Russian competitor. He did this in style with a maximum points win, securing his second European bronze medal, in as many years.

The 3 wado UK members then joined forces with other senior Wado-Kai Karateka selected to compete, and took the Bronze medal in the team kumite section.

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