FANTASTIC FOUR AT THE OPEN
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FANTASTIC FOUR AT THE OPEN 〰️
With only four entered, the 2022 Karate Wales Open saw Vale Karate’s smallest squad in memory!
As Wales’ most successful club for two decades, consistently the most successful club in both the Welsh Karate League and the Open and Closed versions of the Karate Wales Championships, it certainly could be viewed as a low point, I prefer to see it as a reboot!
On many occasions in the recent past, our squad has numbered sixty or seventy! So it was a strange day!
The Championships, held at Neath Sports Centre attracted squads from all over Wales as well as very strong squads from England and even Ireland.
The day started with the Under 8s where we had two youngsters taking part, William Dowers and Ellis Gil.
Traditionally we have dominated this age group (and other age groups) in the past and William and Ellis flew the Vale Flag with pride, with William, who took a silver in his first ever event at the WKL in March, going one better, taking his first Gold, and what a gold, becoming Karate Wales Open Champion!
Ellis also took a medal with a great Bronze!
Both boys also entered the 7-8 Years Jukuren, with Ellis taking another medal, a silver this time!
Ellis’ final event, his third saw him in the Kumite, and to the Vale supporters delight, he went all the way to the final, taking another very well deserved Silver!
It was then time for Ellis’ older brother Lucas to take to the mat.
Lucas is an excellent all-rounder, but was just outside the medals in his Kata category, however he was on top form in the Kumite, beating a number of Kumite specialists to take the Welsh Open title!
Vale Karate’s final competitor was Mayzi Lee.
She took a bronze medal in her favourite event the Kumite, in which the semi-final could have gone either way, but her all-round ability shone as she ended the day as one of the most successful karate-ka, adding gold medals in both the Kata and Jukuren to become a double Karate Wales Open Champion, adding to her numerous Welsh and WKL titles!
Four golds, two silvers and two bronzes, from only four competitors is an awesome achievement!
Well done to Ellis, Lucas, William and Mayzi! Hopefully all four will feature in the Vale Squad over the coming years as we return to dominance, as I am very confident we will.