York Karate Club celebrate best-ever results at KUGB Northern Regional Championships (From York Press)

York Karate Club celebrate best-ever results at KUGB Northern Regional Championships

12:07pm Saturday 24th October 2009 in

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York Karate Club are celebrating their best-ever set of results at this year’s KUGB Northern Regional Championships.

The York team produced some fantastic performances at the event in Sunderland, to the delight of coach Liam O’Grady.

The tournament opened with the Ippon Kumite, which is a basic one-step fighting category for children under the age of ten.

York’s three members all qualified for the semi-finals stage.

Aimee Reeson comfortably progressed from her semi, while Sam Wallace beat fellow York youngster Connor Dunckley.

The final was closely contested, with both competitors admirably representing the club, with Reeson winning gold and Wallace taking home the silver. Dunckley received a bronze medal.

The next event was the boy’s Kumite, or free fighting, for ten and 11-year-olds.

York fighters Jake Atkinson and Matthew Beilby both reached the semi-finals, but were unfortunate to be drawn against each other.

The two best friends produced a fantastic fight, performing to a very high standard, but Beilby triumphed to book his place in the final.

Beilby faced a tough opponent in the final and, despite taking him to extra-time, he was forced to settle for the silver medal.

Atkinson won bronze.

Meanwhile, Alice Atkinson struck gold in the girl’s ten to 11-year-olds event, continuing the great form she has shown this year.

Atkinson has won every competition she has entered since March and once again she dominated in Sunderland.

Ryan Stead competed in the boys 12 to 15-year-old over 5ft 5in section and reached the semi-final stage.

With a final place up for grabs, both fighters scored extremely highly but Stead was narrowly beaten and had to settle for a bronze medal.

The final event was the Team Kata, with York’s Karate Junior Kata bidding for honours.

The team consistently scored highly to reach the final but they were denied a gold medal when the referee deducted a penalty of 0.1 from each score card. That meant York were relegated to third place and bronze medals.

Sensei O’Grady said: “Overall, this is the finest results as a group we have had at York Karate.

“I am so proud of what we have achieved, not just at this competition, but at every competition this year.”

Anyone interested in joining the club can find more information by visiting the website www.yorkkarate.org or by phoning O’Grady on 07835 787030.