Oct 10, 2009
With my attention on officiating at the WKGB Welsh Open on Saturday October 10th, the vast majority of the squad's exploits escaped my attention and so a full report is not possible.
We attended with one of our largest contingent’s in years, though many were very inexperienced and several were attending their first Welsh Championships.
We won four Gold medals, all coming from predictable sources!
Our first gold came from Andrew Kanias, Instructor of our Kansei Clubs, who won the Mens Kata.
Although Welsh champion twice previously, this was his first ' Welsh Open' title. Rob Green; instructor of our St Pats clubs took bronze.
Apart from the Mens event, we earned silver and bronze from Kloe Christoforato and Ewan Albright in their respective Under 10 categories and bronzes from Leah in the Ladies, from Nadia and Nimo Liban in Kloe’s Under 10 Girls event and from Jessica Kinson in the Girls 10-12 section, though in my opinion, a couple more gold medals would have been justified.
Brooklyn Peckham won his tenth title of the year in the Under 12 Kumite-45Kg, taking him level with Chloe Fry, only for Chloe to then take her eleventh by winning the Under 12 Girls -35Kg!
Considering both have stepped up to the Under 12s this year, quite an achievement.
The final of the U18 -76kg event featured two athletes who will be representing their respective Nations, England and Wales, at the World Championships in Morocco next month.
Our own Rhys Davies and Alex Sell.
A close match ended in a draw and so was followed by the new ‘Sai Shiai’ rule, another one-minute match.
Rhys dug deep and emerged a clear winner.
My Coaches report that there were many good Kumite performances at this the highlight of the Welsh domestic Competitive calendar. Well done to all who entered.
Oct 4, 2009
Closer to hone on October 4th, a large squad attended the Welsh Bushi-Kai championships at Port Talbot’s Afan Lido.
Even though many of Vale Karate’s top competitors took the day off in preparation for this coming weekend’s Welsh Open, more than sixty Vale Karate students entered!
The majority are newcomers to the tournament scene and were competing for the experience, nevertheless a couple of dozen medals were won.
Vale Karate have taken huge strides in the area of Karate for young people with disabilities and Special Needs and The Welsh Bushi-Kai are only one of several tournament organisers who have embraced the initiative by providing a category for these young people to express themselves.
Once again the category was a success with Vale karate students filling all four podium spots. Zak Abdulrahman taking gold ahead of Courtney Lloyd in silver medal position with James Jones and Asa Madsen taking bronzes.
In the mainstream events, Nick Sherrin was once again a champion, this time in Kata, earning the 10-12 ‘advanced’ section gold with Jessica Kinson and Brooklyn Peckham in 3rd place.
As in Stourbridge, the Adult Kata double was once again secured.
Vale Karate have impressive strength-in-depth, demonstrated here, as although Andrew Kanias, champion at the UK Open was absent, the Mens event was nevertheless an all-Vale final with Rob Green, Instructor of Vale Karate’s ‘St Pats’ group of clubs victorious after a close match with The Vale’s ‘Valleys’ clubs instructor; Lee Morgan!
Sarah Morgan took her second successive gold medal, beating team-mate Tasha Paton in the Ladies event.
With four Kata titles in the bag, the Vale’s Kumite competitors had a lot to live up to and didn’t disappoint.
The girls in particular were dominant as Lucille Ibisi, (Under 10s) Chloe Fry ( Under 12s) and Demi White (Under 14s) all won!
The boys were marginally less successful, however Brooklyn Peckham and Nick Sherrin almost completed and Under 12 and Under 14 double. Brooklyn took the title in his category with little resistance, however Nick aggravated a slight injury picked up a fortnight earlier and was forced to withdraw from his final to settle for silver.
SEPT 20, 2009
Stourbridge in The West Midlands was the venue when a small Vale Karate squad attended the UK Open a day after the Grand Slam.
Kloe Christoforato has established herself as one of Britain’s best Under 10 Kata competitors, unlucky not to take the British title two weeks earlier in Edinburgh.
In Stourbridge, Kloe was competing in the Under 10 Mixed category and once again had to settle for silver, beaten in the final by England's impressive Michael Holmes.
Vale Karate’s first gold medal of the day was however assured as Chloe Fry and Bradley Christoforato progressed to meet in the final of the 10-12 mixed Kata, beating some excellent competitors on the way
Bradley earning the majority of flags to take his long-overdue first title of the year!
A successful day was confirmed as a Senior Kata ‘double’ was sealed with Andrew Kanias and Sarah Morgan proving too good for the opposition. With Andrew the Mens champion and Sarah earning the Ladies’ gold medal.
Andrew is well used to winning, but it has been a long time since Sarah took gold having recently made her comeback to the competitive arena.
Matthew Hill was also on form, taking the 16 & 17 Kata gold medal.
Vale Karate fifth and final title of the day was won by Nick Sherrin.
A double Welsh champion at May’s Welsh ‘closed’ Championships, Nick came through five tough rounds, having to dig for resources of determination and courage to take the Boys 10-12 Kumite title.
SEPT 19, 2009
The Welsh Karate Squad took part in the Home Nations Karate Grand Slam, hosted by Ireland’s Governing body for Karate ONAKAI in Dublin on September 19th with Two of Vale Karate’s squad representing Wales.
Vale Karate Kumite Coach Gareth Reynolds was once again included in the Welsh Men’s team as Natasha Paton made her full international debut for the Welsh Ladies team,
The Men had a torrid time and although putting together some good performances, they couldn't quite perform as they hoped and left without silverware. Ireland being the surprise winners.
After being reserve for the first match, Tasha was given her chance against Ireland and secured her place with a win, she then went on to be Wales' only unbeaten fighter as she won all three of her fights, helping Wales to second place.
AUGUST 9, 2009
Once again Vale Karate were Wales’ most successful Organisation as their squad won no fewer than twenty medals, seven of them gold, at this years Welsh Youth Open Championships which took place at Cardiff’s Welsh Institute of Sport in Cardiff on Sunday.
With holidays a factor, The Vale Squad had entries in only three of the five Kata categories.
However they dominated each with gold and silver in two, and gold, silver and bronze in the other!
Jessica Kinson won her first British title in Sheffield last September, beating none other than team-mate Chloe Fry in the final of the Under 10 Kata.
Both were competing in the Girls 10-12 category in Cardiff having now celebrated their tenth Birthdays.
Their class outshone the opposition to set up yet another showdown.
Once again the judges preferred Jessica’s performance, as her delivery of ‘Kanku Dai’ earned the flags over Chloe’s ‘Unsu’.
Laura-Anne Spencer announced her presence with some classy displays to earn her the bronze medal.
Meanwhile on the adjacent mat, the Boys 10-12 year event produced another high quality all-Vale Karate final as Sion Kinson earned a well-deserved first Welsh title with victory over Brook Peckham.
Vale karate’s third gold medal came a little later when, for the third consecutive Welsh Championships; Leah Copeland met Hannah Gibbon in the Girls 13-15 final.
The girls each looked on top form with Leah’s extra experience perhaps the deciding factor as she took a 3-2 win
With the Kata finished, the mitts were donned for the Kumite events.
Lucille Ibisi at just eight is an exceptional talent, having already won two ‘intermediate’ events this year, she upped her game to take the gold medal Under 10 Girls category.
Chloe Fry and Brook Peckham, silver medallists in their Kata categories are equally, if not even more adept in Kumite, and although both are new to the Under 12 events, they progressed to their respective finals.
Their fortunes differed however as Chloe narrowly missed out, taking her second silver of the day but with Brook taking the top spot in the Boys event heading a Vale Karate 1-2-3 with Ryan Page in second and Lewis Gibbon in third place.
The Under 14 Boys Kumite saw a surprise winner.
Nick Sherrin, Double Welsh Champion at May’s WKGB Closed Championships, had, like several team-mates, stepped up an age group for these championships, and although no doubt among the youngest in the category, lost only narrowly to the favourite from The Welsh Bushi-Kai.
That youngster then got injured in his next bout to be withdrawn, leaving the category wide open. Cole Caviell, a relative newcomer to competitions stepped into the breach and against the odds went on to take his first and Vale Karate’s sixth Welsh title of the day. Third place also came to Vale Karate with Dylan Seldon earning the bronze medal.
Two of Vale Karate’s most successful squad members failed narrowly to take Welsh titles this time with Demi White, losing in the final of the Under 14 Girls Kumite and Luke Davies taking bronze in the Under 16 boys event.
Vale Karate’s final Gold medal of the day came when the Under 12 Girls team of Chloe Fry, Jessica Kinson and Cori Morgan beat The Shukan Ryu team in the final.
MAY 23, 2009
Cardiff’s Welsh Institute of Sport was the venue on Saturday May 23rd for the Welsh ‘Closed’ Championships.
The title ‘Closed’ refers to the fact that only the forty or so Associations across Wales that are affiliated to The WKGB, and therefore recognised by The Sports Council, are allowed to enter, and so although August’s ‘Youth Open’ and Octobers ‘Open’ may be bigger, these are the Championships to find the best in Wales!
The event began with the Under 10 Kata categories, with our brilliant 9-year-old Brooklyn Peckham, starting Vale Karate’s Gold rush by taking first place in the Boys section.
Ewan Albright, just seven, but beginning to show real potential won his first National medal, a bronze.
The Under 10 Girls event saw yet another showdown between team-mates Kloe Christoforato and Chloe Fry, who throughout 2008 and the early part of 2009 have proved themselves the best in their age group in Britain.
For the fourth time this year they met in a Kata final with Kloe levelling the score 2-2 by taking her first Welsh title.
The Boys and Girls 10-12 events looked likely to continue to yield medals for Vale Karate, as there is impressive strength in depth in this age group and after three rounds of preliminaries in the Boys group, another Gold medal was assured as Vale Karate boys filled all four semi-final spots!
Sion kinson and Bradley Christoforato, the two Kata Squad members in the category, had unfortunately met in the second round, with both boys performing excellent Kata, the judge’s flags went Bradley’s way.
Bradley met Nick Sherrin in the first semi with Nick earning a majority decision. In the final Nick met Ryan Page, who had beaten Sam Davies in the other semi.
Nick, more renowned for his Kumite skills nevertheless proved his Kata was up to the job by taking the Gold medal.
Leah Copeland and Hannah Gibbon outclassed their opponents in the 13-15 Category to reach the final.
This was rematch of last August’s Welsh Open, where Leah earned a close decision.
Another close match saw Leah retain the title.
With four of the eight available Kata titles won, Vale Karate, always looking to whitewash the Kata events, strongly contested three of the four remaining categories.
Jessica Kinson, as current British Under 10 Champion, was surely the favourite for the 10-12 Girls title and progressed to the final with ease.
There however, the majority decision went to her opponent to leave Jessica with a silver medal. In her usual fashion however, she took the disappointment with a shrug and a smile. A silver medallist on this occasion, but a true champion.
Megan Coles an exciting prospect but still too inexperienced to challenge for the gold medal earned a good bronze on this occasion.
In the Ladies and Men’s events, Vale Karate had to settle for the minor medals with Tasha Paton and Sarah Morgan earning silver and bronze respectively and Rob Green also taking bronze.
Vale Karate is the WKGB’s only Organisation to excel in both aspects of Competition Karate; Kata and Kumite.
Our ‘All-Round’ ethos was dramatically demonstrated when no fewer than three of our Kata champions, Brooklyn, Nick and Leah went on to take Gold medals in their Kumite events!
Brooklyn took his second title of the day, his seventh of the year in the Under 10 Boys Kumite.
Nick’s Kumite opponents included the best 10 and 11 year-olds from such esteemed Organisations as The Karate Union of Wales, The Welsh Bushi-Kai and The Welsh Karate-Kai. None however could get to grips with his speed and range of technique and he clinched the double in his customary style.
Leah had to step up, not one, but two weight categories as the Under 47 Kg and Under 54Kg events were combined with the +54Kg category to make an ‘Openweight’ event.
Like Nick she faced the best in Wales, and came from behind in both the semi-final against the formidable Sophie Reynolds of the Welsh Karate-Kai and in the final versus the Welsh Bushi-Kai’s Amy Nicholas, with some impressive kicking to take her second, extremely hard-fought gold medal of the day.
Demi White, one of The Vale Karate squad’s most consistently successful young fighters, had been uncharacteristically beaten in the team event. She put that defeat behind her to successfully progress to the U-14 -45K individual final. There, she came up against her victor, and speaking volumes for her character, she reversed that decision to earn her fourth Welsh title.
The Vale's Junior Female 'Sports Personality of the Year' for 2008 Chloe Fry, won yet another gold in the Under 10 Girls, unbelievably, her ninth title of the year!
With the younger competitors events finished, it was time for the older one’s to take the stage.
Heidi Christoforato brought the Vale supporters to the edge of their seats with her exploits, being eventually beaten in the final of the Ladies lightweight event. A silver medal a fantastic achievement.
Vale Karate’s five Welsh Internationals; Luke Davies, Rhys Davies, Elliot Evans, Tasha Paton and Gareth Reynolds had mixed fortunes.
Although all medalled, and all have proved on countless occasions that they are amongst Wales’ and indeed Britain’s finest Karate athletes, their tally was less than hoped for.
Both Luke and Rhys were given little problem in adding to their numerous Welsh titles.
Tasha, having earned a silver medal in the Ladies Kata event, went on to earn two Kumite bronzes in the U18 and Ladies Kumite events.
For the young lady considered by all at Vale Karate, Wales’ Golden Girl, and by her own high standards, not a good day!
Elliot came up against fellow Welsh International Sion Rees in the U18 -68Kg final and lost a too-close-to-call match.
Gareth, British and a former Commonwealth Champion was on top form. In the final he met the Welsh Karate-Kai’s Robbie Scott who has won a similarly impressive list of titles. Although the Vale supporters felt Gareth had done enough to win, it was not to be on this occasion, and Gareth settled for the silver medal.
In the two main events of the day, the Ladies and Men’s team events, Both Vale Teams reached the finals. The Ladies team of Hannah Goldsby, Tasha Paton and Heidi Christoforato were victorious, beating the Welsh Karate Union in the final.
The Men’s ’A’ team met the Bushi-Kai team in the final. Things started badly as Paul Fry was disqualified for excessive contact. Rhys Davies at only 16 was making his Men’s team debut and versus Senior Welsh International Rhys Edwards, he was too inexperienced to take the win, which left Vale Karate with another silver medal.
A day of highs and lows again saw Vale Karate some way ahead of all opposition at the top of the medal table, equalling their own record of thirteen gold medals, winning a record-breaking forty medals in all!
May 10, 2009
While Sensei Gareth was competing at the highest possible level at the Senior European Championships in Croatia, Vale Karate sent competitors to two competitions 130 miles apart this past weekend, with the Vale’s younger competitors dominating both events.
At the AMA Southern Championships in Reading, nine-year-old Chloe Fry, newly crowned as the Vale of Glamorgan’s Junior Female ‘Sports Personality of The Year’ underlined the reasons she earned that award by winning her fifth and sixth individual titles of 2009, beating team-mate Kloe Christoforato in the finals of each of the Under 10 Kata and Kumite events.
Kloe, a year younger at just eight has reached the podium no fewer than twelve times already this year, and improving rapidly.
Luke Davies, still only fourteen, and Wales’ youngest full International, being lucky enough to be around just when the World and European karate Federations sanctioned International categories for fourteen and fifteen year olds at this January’s Junior European Championships, took his fifth gold medal of the year, winning the Under 16 Kumite event.
Nick Sherrin has matured hugely this year and has already won three Under 12 Kumite titles.
He looked to be on his way to another in Reading, however a close final saw no score, even after the extension.
In these circumstances the judges give a decision based on superiority, and although the Vale Karate supporters believed Nick had the upper hand, the judges thought otherwise and Nick was left with the silver medal.
Bradley Christoforato, although amongst the best in Britain in the Under 12 Kata category, has not yet managed a title this year, as every event he enters features one or two of Britain’s best youngsters. He was again unlucky enough to come up against England’s top eleven-year-old Kieran Nunkoo, in the semi-final, with Bradley again earning a bronze medal.
Just keep focused Brad, Your time is fast approaching!
Rob Green won vale Karate’s final medal at the Championships. Beaten by one of Britain's hottest young Kata talents, Alex Gardner, Rob came back through the repechage to take bronze.
Meanwhile, Carl Peckham took a small group of students to the Staffordshire Open.
Brooklyn Peckham, still only nine years old, is among Vale Karate’s brightest young prospects and found little opposition on his way to the Kata and Kumite double.
Congratulations also to Ryan Page, Lucille Ibisi, Suniah Naeem and Sicelo Biyela who also won medals.
April 19, 2009
Welsh Karate’s reputation on the International stage took another step forward on Sunday when Rhys Davies came within a whisker of taking the prestigious Slovakian Grand Prix Open title in Bratislava.
The event, one of the Central European Karate league events, attracted many of European karate’s top young athletes from thirteen of European Karate’s most successful nations, including France, Slovakia, Croatia, Spain and Hungary.
Barry Comprehensive pupil Rhys, still only three months past his sixteenth birthday, beat four top class fighters to come up against the current European U21 -68Kg champion Yves Martial of Hungary in the final.
There, Rhys lost a close match 2-0.
Our Kumite coach Gareth Reynolds, competing in the Men’s -67Kg category went out to the Croatian champion. In the repechage Gareth lost 3-1 to the current World silver medallist Kovacs of Hungary.
MEANWHILE:Many thanks to Simon O'Brien for the invite to his BRISTOL DOJO INVITATIONAL which took place at his impressive Dojo in Bristol.
Only a small squad attended with several inexperienced competitors, but nevertheless good results were seen.
Chelsea was the star of the day as she won five rounds to take the Beginner-4th Kyu Kata title. We had a clean sweep in the Special Needs Kata with Courtney taking the gold ahead of Dale and James. Well done!
Louisha also went through five rounds, unlucky to come away with a bronze on this occasion.
Kloe won her first Kumite title with Chloe in second place. Leah was on top form, narrowly losing the final 2-1. Leah was unable to participate in the Individual Kumite, injuring her arm in the mixed team event, in which she was a winner alongside Owen and Luke. Luke was again a champion, taking the Under 16 Kumite title.
April 14, 2009
The Scottish International Open, held at Edinburgh’s Meadowbank stadium, last weekend, once again lived up to its reputation as one of Britain’s biggest and most prestigious events with eight hundred competitors from ten countries present.
Saturday was dedicated to all adult and 16 & 17 year-old categories. Only two of Vale Karate’s 13-strong squad were therefore in action, but with dramatic results.
Vale Karate’s Kumite coach Gareth Reynolds, stepping up his preparation for the Senior European Championships, which take place in Zagreb in May, was contesting the high quality Under-65Kg event.
Gareth fought his way through four rounds to eventually meet England’s Paul James in the final.
Like Gareth, Paul is a former British Champion and so a match of quality was assured.
Gareth had the edge in the final to take Wales’ first gold medal of the day.
Rhys Davies 16, was entering these championships for the fourth time.
In 2006 he won the Under 14 -55Kg category. Moving up to the Under 16 -63 Kg in 2007 he was again champion. His hat-trick of titles came last year, when he was champion in the Under 16 +70Kg event.
Now competing in the Under 18 +70Kg category, his event featured many of Britain’s top 16 & 17 year-olds, including Scotland’s Craig McDonald and England’s Saul Del Rio, both like Rhys, having recently represented their Countries at the Junior European Championships in Paris.
Remarkably Rhys has not lost to a Briton for well over a year and kept that statistic intact as he smoothly progressed to the final where he beat Saul 7-1.
Sunday was dedicated to the children’s events and once again Vale Karate were in the thick of the action.
Chloe Fry 9, and 8-year-old Kloe Christoforato have met several times in Kata finals but never at such a huge event.
However the possibility of an all-Vale final became reality as Kloe beat an English girl and Chloe an Armenian in their respective semi-finals.
In the final Chloe was judged to have the edge to give her the title.
She later proved her all-round ability by winning the Under 10 Girls Kumite event! Kloe again underlined her potential by taking a Kumite bronze.
Luke Davies, who took the gold medal in the Under 16 -52Kg category, won vale Karate’s fifth title of the weekend.
Leah Copeland, in her second tournament since her Individual Kumite comeback won a silver in the Girls 13-15 -48Kg event with Nick Sherrin earning a bronze in the 10-11 -45kg category and Bradley Christoforato taking a well deserved bronze in the 10-12 Boys Kata event.
In the 10-12 Boys team event, the Welsh Karate Bushi-kai’s Tom O’Leary stepped in alongside, Bradley and Lewis, helping Vale Karate to another bronze medal.
March 17, 2009
Development was the bottom line when Vale Karate sent more than fifty entries to the Welsh Karate-Kai Invitational Championships, held at Port Talbot’s Afan Lido Aquadome on Sunday.
This was an ideal competition for beginners, as every age group was split into three grade tiers so that all children from beginner to black belt were catered for.
Therefore for the first time, all of Vale Karate’s well established after-school and lunch-time clubs were represented with students from Victoria, Holton, Palmerston, St. Athan, Llangan, Barry Comprehensive, Romilly, St. Nicholas and Maes Dyfan in attendance.
Competition was fierce with every category well subscribed.
As well as the presence of all of Wales’ leading Associations, England was also represented in strength, attracted by the prospect of newer competitors being given a platform to perform.
Like many tournaments across Wales and the West, The Welsh Karate-Kai have now included Special Needs categories in their events, another step forward towards Vale Karate Chief instructor Rob Copeland’s vision of Karate being completely accessible to all.
Rob commented, “I’m extremely proud that so many of our students rose to the challenge of giving competition a go. The sporting side of karate is not for everyone, but we aim to give all our student the opportunities to sample all aspects of Karate.
I’m also proud of how every one of our competitors conducted themselves throughout the day. Karate is about respect and self-discipline, and all members of Vale Karate demonstrated this admirably.
Also a big thank you to my team of coaches in attendance, Paul, Rob, Carl and Tasha who always make my job much easier!”
MARCH 2, 2009
With over twelve-hundred competitors representing ninety-five Associations from twenty-two countries, the 2009 AMA International Open, held at Sheffield’s Ponds Forge International Arena over the weekend of Sat 28th Feb and Sunday March 1st once again lived up to it’s reputation as one of Britain and indeed Europe’s premier events.
Saturday saw all Kata and the Under 14 children’s Kumite events taking place.
The Vale Karate duo of Kloe Christoforato and Chloe Fry who met in the Under 10 Kata final a week earlier in Dudley, were unluckier this time to each emerge with bronze medals. Chloe went one better in her Kumite event but fell one short of her aspirations, settling for a silver medal.
On Sunday it was the turn of the adults and older children. For the many English Associations present, this was an extremely important event, as The English Karate Federation had nominated this as a tracking competition. This meant that top competitors results here would go on their CV’S and presented at English Squad training to support their selection pedigree.
Vale Karate’s trio of Welsh International fighters, Tasha Paton, Rhys Davies and Luke Davies, were determined to show, on St David’s Day, that Wales is a nation in Karate that has ambition and potential and once again stepped up to the challenge admirably and demonstrated not only why they are undoubtedly Wales’ but also Britain’s best in their categories.
Luke missed last year’s event, which was a great pity as he had earned gold medals at the championships in 2006 and 2007.
Now fighting in the Under 16 -55Kg category, he easily won his first few fights, two with maximum scores. His semi final was tougher as he had to withstand severe pressure before overcoming his opponent. The final was, as expected, extremely close and with only seconds to go, he fell a point behind.
The entire Vale Karate contingent with one exception, were resigned to a nevertheless worthwhile silver medal. The exception was Luke himself, who somehow managed to get in position for a last ditch roundhouse kick which earned him three points and the title. The Scoreboard registered a 4-2 win with no time on the clock!
Tasha Paton 17, had not won this event since being champion in the Under 14 category in 2005.
Her form last year however gave her camp hope that she could again reach the rarefied atmosphere of those days when she was Britain’s best.
The undoubted quality of her opponents was of no concern to Tasha, and as Luke had earlier, she blitzed through her first three opponents with maximum scores.
Her second round opponent was a student of the Internationally renowned Shotokan Sensei Aiden Trimble, who, after the fight commented that Tasha was a ‘fantastic’ kicker.
The final was to be the real acid test as Tasha came up against England’s number one, Charlotte Platts, who had wreaked similar mayhem in the other half of the draw.
At the recent European championships, Tasha and Charlotte became friends as Wales’ and England’s representatives in Paris.
Friendship was forgotten however as a final of high drama and edge-of-the-seat excitement unfolded.
At the time-up bell, the scores were tied at 10-10! In the case of a draw, the latest World Karate Federation rules call for an extra one-minute match to decide the winner. Both girls are at the peak of fitness, so the deciding factor was possibly desire. Tasha has the heart of a champion and although under intense pressure secured a great 4-2 win to land the title.
Vale Karate’s final competitor was their current British U-16 champion Rhys Davies. Rhys has moved up to the Under 18 categories this year, but the change has not affected him adversely. In fact he was Wales’ most successful athlete at the recent Junior European championships, being beaten 2-1 by the European champion to be, and losing his match for a bronze medal by a solitary point, despite it being his first tournament in the age group.
Rhys’ first opponent in Sheffield was the entrant from Malta. This was to be Rhys’ easiest match as his experience, garnered from competing all over Europe resulted in a one-sided match against a talented, aggressive, but ultimately outclassed adversary.
Rhys’ most difficult match was undoubtedly his semi-final against Denmark’s champion.
The Dane did his utmost to give Rhys a torrid time, but the composure, which Rhys has in abundance and which would be the envy of many experienced adult champions again saw him through to book a place in the final.
Rhys has been unbeaten by any British fighter for more than twelve months and proved that that statistic is no accident with a comfortable win against his English opponent in the final to win Vale Karate’s third gold medal of the championships.
This was Rhys’ fourth consecutive gold medal, his first title coming in 2006 when he won the under 16 -45Kg section!
FEB 23, 2009
After their huge success in having four youngsters in the Welsh squad for January’s European Junior Championships in Paris, Vale Karate are again celebrating this week as Coach Gareth Reynolds made the Senior Welsh Squad for what is officially recognised as Europe’s premier Karate event.
Alongside his four young Vale Karate Welsh International team-mates, Gareth attended National Squad Training and selection on Sunday, at the home of the Welsh Sports Council: The Welsh Institute of Sport in Sophia Gardens, Cardiff.
Although his selection was expected, all at Vale Karate were relieved and excited to hear he will be in the Welsh Squad at the 44th European Senior Karate Championships, which take place in Croatia in May.
Gareth, a Course Team Leader for HND Sport & Exercise Science at Filton College in Bristol will be competing in the -67Kg Men’s Kumite event in Zagreb.
In the months leading up to the Junior European Championships, Gareth has been delivering invaluable training sessions for The Vale karate Youth squad, however his own competition career, which has netted him Welsh, British and Commonwealth titles will now be his focus as he looks ahead to May.
As Vale Karate’s Welsh International’s were being put through their paces in Cardiff, their younger squad members were contesting The United Styles UK Open in Dudley.
In the absence of the squad’s more established stars, Vale Karate’s two youngest squad members, Chloe Fry 9, and eight-year-old Kloe Christoforato, grabbed the limelight by taking the Under 10 events by storm.
Against many children from England’s top Association’s, the duo demonstrated their ability and Vale Karate’s all-round ethos by progressing through the rounds to meet in the finals of both Kata and Kumite events!
As if scripted, the spoils were shared, with Kloe beating Chloe in taking the Kata title and Chloe reversing that result in the Kumite final.
Jessica Kinson, Hannah Gibbon and Megan Hopkins had a torrid time before overcoming their opponents to land the 10-12 Years Girls team title.
Jessica, the current Under 10 Girls British Kata champion, was perhaps the squad’s most spectacular performer of the day.
Her match in the semi-final in particular, brought roars from the crowd, as she scored one punch and three consecutive, perfectly controlled, blisteringly fast head kicks to earn a 10-0 win.
Aided by brave performances from Hannah and Megan, the team then toppled the home team in the final.
There were silver medals for Hannah Gibbon and Leah Copeland in the 10-12 years and 13-15 years Kata events respectively and for Rob Green in the Mens Heavyweight Kumite.
Bronzes were won by Bradley Christoforato in Kata, Nick Sherrin in Kumite, Rob Green Junior in Kumite, Adam Yusuf in Kumite and Leah Copeland, Bethan Hopkins and Chelsie Ware, competing as the 13-15 Vale Young Ladies Kumite team.
