Hartlepool Wado Kai Karate Championships 2012

Three Wado UK clubs visited the Hartlepool Wado Kai Championships in Hartlepool Recently. It took place on Mothers Day, 18th March 2012. This didn't seem to have an effect on numbers of entries however, as it was suggested competitor numbers were around 300.
The venue was rather small and seating at a premium, but we managed somehow and came away with 19 medals by the end of the day.

The ShinKen Dojo was represented by Jess and Amie Newton, and Brandon and Hayden Greenwood.

The Woodford Dojo was represented by Charlotte Pinder, Oliver Dearing, Teerth, Charan and Amrit Dhesi, along with Joe Munro.

The Zanshin Dojo was represented by Ellis Miller and Josh Hartery.

Our Kata squad got things off to a colorful start, by taking 3 Gold, 2 Silver and a Bronze medal. The majority of our Kata competitors were in the lower graded groups, with just Brandon in the brown belt and over categories. We seemed to suffer from being in every first round going. this meant that we had several categories where our youngsters had more rounds to go through than the other competitors. This aside we managed many good performances and saw our group in no less than 5 finals.

Our deserving medallists were Charlotte Pinder and Charan Dhesi in individual Gold Medal position, along with our Kata team of Charlotte Pinder, Oliver Dearing and Teerth Dhesi.
Individual Silver Medallists were Amrit Dhesi and Brandon Greenwood, with Oliver Dearing finishing things off with a Bronze in his individuals.

Kick-Master was next on the agenda and here we achieved a clean sweep of all the medals available. This event was dedicated to Sports Relief, with all entry fees going to the charity. It wasn't long before Teerth, Amrit and Charan along with Ellis and Oliver were making their way through the rounds. This was to continue to the point where the two semi finals featured Oliver V Charan and Teerth V Ellis. By the end of those Semis the judges had decided that the finalists would be Charan V Ellis. For the final time then the two youngsters took to the mats for a 30 second burst of energy and excitement. Clearly tired by the end, Ellis was adjudged to have just nudged Charan aside and take the gold medal. This meant as suggested earlier that the two bronze medals went to Oliver and Teerth, with silver going to Charan and Gold to Ellis. A clean Sweep, great stuff!!

Following on from the Kick-Master were the Kumite categories. Our competitors would once again take a share of the medals, With Jess Newton doing the double by winning not only her own Cadet category, but that of the same weight group in the next age group up, the Juniors. Jess looked sharp and effective scoring two maximum scores along the way.
Joe Munro would also take the opportunity to move up in age groups. Joe would also medal in each category by taking a well earned bronze in each. A heavy punch to the head saw him on the floor at one point, but his determination was enough to see him finish the bout and secure his medal.
Further success would go to Oliver Dearing who also took a few knocks along the way. Oliver fought with maturity and skill in both his individuals and his team event. His reward for this would be a further two bronze medals, taking his total for the day to four!

Charlotte would add a silver to her tally following her girls Kumite division. Again facing an opponent much taller than herself in the final, Charlotte had to dig deep for the courage to take the fight to her opponent as she slipped behind on points. She tried valiantly to achieve this, but was outreached every time she went in for the attack. Never the less she did herself proud.
Brandon also managed to secure himself a silver medal in the Kumite sections. He did this by following suit with Ellis round by round, to the point where the two met in the semi final. Brandon would win this bout with a characteristic jodan mawashigeri which although predictable at the time, was fast enough to catch Ellis unaware and score the three points which secured his win and place in the final. This left Ellis in the bronze medal position, for which he should be proud. Unfortunately for Brandon, he would be nudged away from the gold medal by his opponent in the final, but he also should be proud of his silver medal.
As mentioned above. the final bronze medal of the day would go to the boys team of Oliver, Teeth and Josh Hartery. Although the boys fought with passion and determination, their Yamakai opponents from Scotland were to prove a step to far on this occasion. A well earned bronze medal however to finish off the day.

The parents who gave up their weekend to support the youngsters deserve a big thank you from both their children and us, especially the mothers who gave up on any hope of a Sunday lunch cooked for them.

Well done everyone.

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