Budokan Wales Karate Results

Welsh open karate championships
18th November 07

We took a good squad ranging from 7yrs to adults, to the National championships in Cardiff.

All who took part did their best & competed well! Despite many excellent performances we came home with 3 individual Bronze medals & 1 team bronze.

Amy Stephens & Lauren Dallimore came joint 3^rd in the U10 girls and Cory Bole came 3^rd in the U10 boys. Amy & Cory went on to come 3^rd in the U10 mixed team, they fought brilliant & were unlucky not to go any further.

Well done to the whole squad, to the first time competitors & the experienced fighters, you all did so well, I & all the instructors are proud of you all!

A great performance!

WKGB
Welsh junior championships, Cardiff.
5th August, 07

We took a small squad to Cardiff and had some excellent performances from all the members.

First up were the U 10’s team: - Corry Boyle, Danny White and Amy Stephens, as a team they were the best I have seen them to date, finishing in 3^rd place.

Kyle Llewellyn and Rikki Hall were next to fight, with Kyle it was his first competition for a few years and he produced an excellent performance. Rikki did all the work in his fight, giving a strong, positive display, but close to the end of the fight his opponent stole a point ad beat Rikki.

Rhian fought like a demon! She grows in confidence with every fight, she kept her opponent busy with lots of kicks and punches, and she eventually lost but put up a very spirited performance and a very credible result.

Liam Coates was our next fighter and what a result he produced! Every time he fights he improves, this competition brought out the best in him. He fought like a champion from the 1^st round to the semi-finals and came so close to winning his area. He ended up in 3^rd place

The biggest category of the day was the U10’s mixed it was huge, with 50 plus competitors, this was Dannie, Corry and Amy’s group. The three of them were brilliant! We ended up with the three of them in the last 8, with Amy finished with an outstanding result of 3^rd place.

Congratulations to you all! Well done

Tora Shin
Junior Competition, Winch Wen, Swansea.
1st July 07

We had an excellent day, with lots of medals. Everyone without exception, fought out of their skins!

First up was the 10’s and under team. Cory Boyle, Dannie White and Liam Coates were the Budokan team and they were exceptional. I knew we were going to have a good day as soon as they started fighting. They went on to win it with brilliant individual performances and a superb team effort.

Amy Stephens and Maria Cooper were next up, they both fought brilliant and both had bronze medals.

Dannie White was next and he was outstanding. It was the best I’ve seen him fighting yet! He has a lot more to give yet.

Next up was Cory Boyle and Liam Coates, both fought with lots of determination. Liam losing to the winner in the quarter final, Cory went on to get a Bronze.

Last up was Rhian Coates, she fought like a demon! She scored with kicks and punches at will as she wanted to. She was excellent.

Well done to all the junior team!

North Wales
Open Karate Championships, Wrexham.
30th June 07

We took a few boys to fight in North Wales, a good workout for the boys.

Adam Davies was in the wars again, he took a heavy knock in the quarterfinals and was not allowed to fight on, unlucky Adam!

Sion Rees and Gurkan Bulbul was in the same category, both did brilliant, both loosing in the quarter finals!

Once again well Done Boys

South West Open Karate Championships.
Weston-super-Mare.
17th June 07

We took a good squad to this competition, with a few 1^st time fighters. It was a big tournament, with big entry’s and big pools.

Starting with the smallest Amy Stephens did brilliant for her first competition.

Dannie White had a very good performance, his fighting is getting good but he can’t stop smiling when he is fighting, he needs to look mean!

Adam Davies and Rikki Hall were next, in the under 16’s, they both did really well, Adam getting into the last 8, before getting injured, so the medics would not let him fight on. I think he would have made the final. Ricky was on form but unlucky not to go further.

Jordan Wilcox did brilliant for his first tournament, well done!

Sion and Gurkan were excellent again failing to get placed in the medals! A great performance!

Dean Draper was on top form! Walking his way to the final and leading all the way until his opponent give him a black eye, which was one of the best I’ve seen! He went away with a well deserved gold medal. He was sensational!

Our men’s team did well but failed to get to the final, but fought brilliant

WELL DONE TO ALL OF YOU

WKA
Welsh Open Championships, Afan Lido, Port Talbot.
27th May, 07

Sion Rees went to the tournament with the BKA Wales. He won the cadet section, with an outstanding performance and had silver in the men’s team with the BKA Wales team.

Congratulations Sion!

The British University Championships.
15th April 07

Dean Draper went up to fight with Rees Jones from Jishin, they both fought brilliant. Dean with 2 silver medals and Rees with 1 gold. If you want to see how well he done go to www.utube.com and enter Dean Draper, he has a few video clips on there!

Well done Dean.

WKGB Welsh Closed Championships.
Cardiff. 15th April 07

The championships were well supported by all the associations, which made for a very competitive day!

Men’s kata was the first of our events with Carlos losing to the eventual winner, he did really well.

Starting with the smallest of the fighters was Liam Coates, he did brilliant but like Joe Jones and Adam Davies they fought with giants! The three of them were excellent but sometimes the height difference makes it to difficult to win.

Rhian Coates did brilliant for her first time in competition, scoring well with body kicks and punches; she was outstanding and unlucky not to progress to the next round.

Sion Rees, Gurkan Bulbul and Andrew Gronow were in the same category, cadets, Andrew finally getting a trophy. He fought exceptionally well as did the other two.

Gemma Coughlin did well, she progressed into the second round, to fight with Gemma Johns who went on to win the category.

Carlos fought well, but was unlucky not to get a medal.

In the men’s team we did well but failed to go past the 2^nd round.

WELL DONE TO ALL OF YOU

Ireland opens championships.
31st March and 1st April 07

Sion Rees travelled out with the BKA Wales squad to compete in these truly international championships. He did brilliant getting to the top 5, all the time he is getting better! I had a great report about his fighting from Paul Scott.

Well done!

WELSH KARATE ASSOCIATION
TRADITIONAL OPEN
10th March 07

We had a good day at the WKA competition. We took 9 fighters which included 2 teams. Starting with the youngest, we had an under 10’s team, Dannie White and Liam Coates. Dannie was first up and although Dannie did well, he lost and we were out of the event. In the individuals Dannie hit good form as did Liam, who was competing for the first time, they both fought excellent and did all I expected of them. Joe Jones was brilliant for his first competition, even though he lost 6-3. Adam Davies was as sharp as I have seen him; he was winning 4-0 till the guy kicked him so hard he had to be carried off with the medics, making him unable to continue. Cadets next, Sion Rees fought so well but lost in the second round, Andrew Gronow lost his fight but each time he fights he gets better. Gurkan got silver in the cadets; he fought better than he’s ever done before He was outstanding. Carlos was next in the men’s light weights, and was he on form! He should have made the finals except for the worst referee I have ever seen, in charge of his area. He was totally cheated out of his fight, it was appalling. Sion also fought in this category, 1^st time in the men’s and he did well. Gemma Coughlin was the only female of the group and as she always seems to do, she drew the winner of the category in the 1^st round; she put up a good fight but lost. In the men’s team we had "FECO A" (JJ's team) and we had a really close draw. Sion lost 3-1, Carlos won 8-0, and Gurkan lost 9-8, oh! It was so close. Every competition they get better.

WELL DONE ! TO THE SQUAD

AMA INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

The ama’s in Nottingham was a very big tournament of a high standard. We took a senior team from the Budokan, Dean Draper, Sion Rees, Erhar , Andrew Gronow and Gurkan Bulbul, with Rhys Jones from the BKA Wales, and Shaun Rees of Ogwr karate.

The first to fight was Shaun Rees who had a bronze in the U16’s, He did so well. Then we had the men's team event and first round we had the Lido a interesting draw which we lost, we drew 1 fight each and a draw fight, then counted the points to make them the winners. Next we had the men's individuals. Sion, Andrew and Gurkan all did very well but against very good opponents they lost first round. Next up were Dean, Erhar and Rhys. Dean warmed up as the competition progressed, he finished with a Bronze in his weight group. Erhar was next, he had a brilliant first fight winning 8-0, the following round he drew 3-3, then lost in sudden death. Rhys was next but he lost after putting up a good fight. Dean was next to fight in the open weight. He was awsum he hit brilliant form as the opposition got better so did he ! Out of his 5 fights he drew 4 of the Iranian national team, beating all but the last one to give him a bronze. Only thing I can say apart from his outstanding performance was the appalling attitude of all the Iranians, with regard to their conduct on the tatami and after loosing their fights.

Throughout the day in all the categories. The Iranian team members, men, women and children all faked injury and complained after every decision that went against them. They should have been thrown out of the competition, and this was the opinion of the majority of the coaches, in all of the categories.

WELL DONE TO ALL OF THE FIGHTERS

Dean and Bungie

Team

Dean

The WKGB Welsh Open

The WKGB Welsh Open was held at the WIS, in Cardiff. We took a small squad to compete at the best attended Welsh championships I’ve seen for a long time. In the under 10’s we had Cory Boyle who won 2 fights and lost his 3^rd, Kumar Ransing, won one and lost his next and Danny White who had 2 bye’s and lost his next. They were brilliant for their first competition. Adam Davies made the last 8 and was so unlucky not to win his category, the under 14’s, he was on fire. The cadets was a very competitive category. Andrew Gronow lost his 1^st fight, but gets better each competition, he did well, as did Gurkan Bulbul and Sion Rees who after winning 1 fight each to reach the last 8. Dean Draper carrying an injury to arm and shoulder did well but failed to hit his usual outstanding form. We also had a men’s team, We won our first but lost to Paul Scott’s BKA Wales team who went on to win it. Congratulations to his team and all his fighters who took part and who won medals.

WELL DONE BOYS as always I am so proud of you!

This I hope will end the year with some fine prospects for the new year.

BKF BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIPS

On Saturday the 11^th November we attended the British Karate Federation British championships with the BKA Wales squad. Sion Rees competed in the cadet 16 to 18 categories; he had an excellent start winning his first 2 fights. He lost to the winner in the semi finals and had to fight off in repercharge for the Bronze medal, which unfortunately he lost, eventually placed 5^th. He fought so well he deserved that 3^rd place, next time!

WELL DONE

Well done to the rest of the BKA Wales squad, Gemma, Rees, Gethin and Robbie for doing so well.

WKA Traditional Open Championships
15th October

A team of four fighters took part in WKA Traditional Open Championships at the Lido. They had a warm welcome from everyone there.

Gurkan recorded his first win on the mat in style, but was unlucky and lost in the next round.

Andrew who is learning all the time put on a good show and did good as well.

Sion and Adam had a 3rd place in the Individuals.

Sion also fought in the BKA Wales team that also came 3rd.

"Well Done Guys".

Simon O'Briens
1st Imperial Karate Open Competition
7th October

A Small Team took part in Simon O'Briens 1st Imperial Karate Open Competition. Dean Draper, Sion Rees, Adam Davies, Andrew Gronow and Gurkan Bulbul.

The Boys fought brilliantly in the individuals and the senior team. They were unlucky not to win any medals. "Well Done To the Guys".

British International Open
2nd -3rd September

"Well done !" to Dean and Sion who took part in the British International Open at Crystal Palace.

Sion had an excellent first competition with international levels of competitors. He showed no sign of nerves and he fought like a veteran to get into the last 8.

Dean also had an excellent competition. He had 3 team fights with Paul Scott's BKA Wales team, finally losing fighting for the bronze medal. In the individuals he took some fair fighters out, but lost in the fight for an individual Bronze.