Karate news
SKSM National Karate Championships 2006
28/09/2006The second SKSM Karate Championships for 2006 were held recently at Mosta. This one day event was organized by the sub committee and headed by Mr. Chris Galea (Head of SKSM Karate Malta).
This was another successful event for SKSM with over 85 entrants competing in 17 different categories and with the participation of various Maltese Karate Clubs. The Championships included Children, Juniors, Seniors and Teams in both traditional, Weapons and Free Style Kata (combination of techniques performed by the athletes in front of the judges where points are obtained on perfection, coordination, balance, speed, and agility) and Kumite (sparring).
The Kata Section was judged by 7 judges and monitored by Ms. Lucienne Galea, Chief Judge, who ensured the smooth running of the technical area.
The first athletes to compete where from the children's categories in Kata, under 7 years, where Monique Azzopardi and Miguel Calleja emerged as the winners in these two respective events while Neil Muscat and Andrew Galea won the 8 to 10 years colour belt Kata category, with Kayrin Gauci and Isaac Degabriele as runners up in the respective categories.
Luke Cassar won the Juniors white to yellow belt category with Dominic Fenech and Denise Hili as runners up whilst Andrew Galea emerged as the winner in the 11 to 14 years category (orange belts up) with Andre Baldacchino and Kristabel Borg placing second and third respectively on the podium.
In the Seniors Kata category, up to Orange belts, athlete L. Cassar gave another brilliant performance in the final round after a tie with athlete Andre Camilleri for first place whilst Abigail Grech placed third. In the Intermediate Seniors Category, David Gauci emerged as the winner with A. K. Camilleri and Natasha Fenech as runners up. Michael J. Grima won the Advanced Seniors Kata category (Black Belts), after a close encounter with Michael Attard and Anthony Smith who palced second and third respectively.
The next section was the Team Kata Category where athletes had to perform Kata in teams of three. Judges had a very difficult task to conclude which team will be awarded the highest place on the podium. After three ties, team D. Gauci, L. Cassar, C. Gauci claimed the first place whilst Juniors' Team D. Aquilina, A. Galea, I. Degabriele finished second with a slight difference in points. Team K. Borg, J. Camilleri, D. Fenech placed third.
The next part of the championships, was the Free Style and the Weapons Kata Categories. Alenka Falzon claimed first place in the Children section before runner up Dalton Lee Aquilina. Kristabel Borg and Damian Chetcuti finished up as Winners in the Adults Free Style and Weapons Categories respectively, with Daniel Zammit finishing second in both categories.
The final part of these Karate championships, was the Kumite Section (sparring). Both Juniors and Seniors gave a brilliant performance showing agility, speed and very good control of techniques. All bouts were very well controlled by Mr. Chris Galea. Andrew Galea and Cedric Gauci won the childrens' and the Juniors events respectively. In the Seniors Male Open, Michael J. Grima claimed the first place after three rounds with Steve Polidano in second place. Barbra Caruana won the Female Open, with Natasha Fenech and Isabelle Azzopardi placed second and third respectively.
The Head of SKSM, Chris Galea, commented that he was extremely pleased with the students' commitment and courage and that without any doubt the level of all SKSM members is continuously rising.
In the meantime a team of seventeen SKSM athletes are undergoing intensive preparation in order to participate and represent the school and Malta, in London in an International Karate Championships which will be held next month. Very good results were obtained last year in this event with the SKSM Karate Malta coming back with 7 Gold, 3 Silver and 10 Bronze medals and also placing third overall in this prestigious event.
Students will also participate in other international competitions during the next months in Romania and Germany. In March 2007, SKSM will be organizing the 4th Edition of the Malta International Open, where at least 10 countries will be participating in this yearly event.
For more information visit the school's official website www.sksm-karate-malta.com.
by www.di-ve.com
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