South Yorkshire Open 2009

On 2nd August 2009, several members of the Wado-UK travelled to the Concorde Sports Centre in Sheffield, for the annual South Yorkshire Open. This competition is organised by the Sukoshi-Ryu Karate group and is now becoming established as a quality tournament on the calendar.

Competing for Wado-UK in the junior sections were; Jessica Newton, Joe Munro and Matthew March and for the seniors, Barry Meanwell, Paul Braid, Emily Pierce and Andy Barratt.

A high standard of competition prevented the group winning any medals, until Woodford Club Captain Barry Meanwell took to the mats. Barry looked to be in superb form during his individual bouts, winning all his early round matches in convincing style. As he approached the medal positions the opposition became more adept at scoring points and avoiding being scored on. This however was to prove nothing more than another obstacle for Barry to overcome in his quest for success. He did this in style as he won both his semi-final and final with consummate ease, taking the Gold Medal for his efforts.

He then teamed up with Paul Braid and Andy Barratt for the senior men’s team event. With Barry at the helm, experience was once again to prove a major asset as the team breezed past their first opposition and move into the next round. Although the team were competing well they eventually fell to strong opposition from the Shindo-Kai Karate Group in their semi-final. This did however leave the men’s team in the Bronze medal position.

At the end of the competition, Wado-UK finished with an individual Gold and a team Bronze!

Thanks to all for representing Wado-UK.

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