GKR Round 1 March 20 2011

The biggest number of competitors for some time entered the first GKR Tournament for 2011. Whilst there were some large Junior and lower to mid grade Senior divisions, the perennial problem in attracting consistent entry levels across all age groups and divisions was evident. Perhaps it is a reflection on the age and grade level of people training, rather than a lack of interest. That said, there was some excellent GKR Karate on display throughout the day. As usual, the venue was set up with 4 rings, with plenty of area around each ring for competitors and spectators. Following the bow in and welcome from RM Sensei Joe van Strijp, competition began in each of the rings with the junior grades.

In the 7 & under 8-7th kyu section, the Kata winner was Ryan Khor, Joshua Kehoe second, with Alex Richardson third. Cameron Payne took out the Kumite final from Alex, with Josh taking out third place. Vikram Gopakumar narrowly took out both Kata and Kumite from Tara Jeromel in the 6-4th kyu section. In the 8 - 9 year 8-7th kyu division, Kata was won by Gemma Halkiw from Brandon Khor, with Justin Richardson in third place. Justin prevailed over Gemma on the Kumite final, with Brandon in third place. In 6-4th kyu action, Christina Akele took out Kata from Matthew Thompson, with Sienna Kulinski in third place. Matthew won the Kumite, Siena was second and Christina third. The 10-11 year age group was well supported. In the 8-7th kyu Male Kata, Ethan Docking was first, Sachin Barclay second and Duncan Spencer third. In Kumite, Sachin took out the final from Tristan Braithwaite, with Duncan the winner of the third place bout. Female Kata was won by Emily Nuttall from Isabelle Richardson, with Kiara Boyd third. Isabelle took out the Kumite from Tanya Gartner. Jessica Lombardi won the 6-4th kyu Combined Kata from Michelle Yick, with Oliver Milsom third. 4th kyu + Male Kata and Kumite was won by Thomas Robinson from Jordan Haffner. The 11-13 years 3rd kyu+ Female kata was won by Jasmine Harford over Lucille Lott, while in the Kumite, Lucille placed first, Jasmine second and Jessica Lombardi third. The 12-15 year 8-7th kyu Kata was won by Matthew Baker with Jordan Henbury second. In Kumite, Jordan defeated Jim Broadstock to take out the event. The 12-13 year 6-4th kyu Male Kata was won by Jalen Croxton, Tanis Hilmer was second and Bradley Kater third. In Kumite, Jalen was too experienced for Tanis in the final, with Dylan Bushell taking out third place. The female section saw Demi Harford win both Kata and Kumite. Stephanie Antolis was second in Kata with Anna Freer third, with the positions reversed in Kumite. A combined 13 - 18 years Male 3rd kyu+ event saw Jason Spiteri win both Kata and Kumite. Daniel Andrew was second in Kata with Jondalar Grenfell-Sexton third. In Kumite Jondalar was second, and Daniel third. In the 14-15 years 8-4th kyu Male kata, Aaron Hitmann was first, Dylan Boller second, with Lazarus De Oliveira third. In Kumite Dylan took out the final from Lazarus, with Aaron third. Female 14-16 year 8-6th kyu section saw Elise Tyler first, Hope Edwards second and Shannon Irons third in both Kata and Kumite. In the 6-4th kyu section, Margie Hookway won both Kata and Kumite from Ashley Langkilde. 16-17 year 6-4th kyu Kata was won by Ben Tynan from Callum Boyd, with Callum taking out Kumite over Ben.

On to Senior action and it was Donny Brooke who took out Kata in the 21-34 8-7th kyu Male division. James Fowler was the Kumite winner. Martin Henschke was a dual winner in 6-4th kyu Male, with Rhiannon Ralph also a dual winner in the female section. Alex Mills won 3rd kyu+ female Kata, with Kate Jamieson the Kumite winner. Veteran action saw Adrian Parker the Kata winner and Jonathon Foster the kumite winner in the 8-7th kyu Male section. Lindy swift took out Kata and Kathryn Brink Kumite is the female events. The 6-4th kyu Male event was interesting with some experienced and keen competitors. David Boyd took out Kata with Torsten Hilmer too strong in Kumite. Lena Ong was the Kata winner and Angela Carapetis the Kumite winner in the female section. In the Male 3rd kyu+ section, Daniel Tregenza was the Kata winner, with Corey Burnside taking out Kumite. Jenny Miller took out Kata and Linda Neighbour Kumite in the female section. In 45+ 8-7th kyu male division, Jeremy Folwell took out Kata and Kumite over Anthony Farror. In the 6-4th kyu section Steve Tyler was a dual winner, with Ron White taking out both second places. In 55+ year Male Kata, Lance Carroll was the Kata winner from Albert Tuddenham and Brenton Wells, with Brenton taking out the points over Albert to win Kumite.

Team Kata had some high quality performances and demonstrated the hours of practice required. In juniors, the experienced team of Daniel Andrew, Margie Hookway and Jason Spiteri took out first place, Rhys Dix, Callum Boyd and Ben Tynan came second and the younger team of Rani Kulinski, Sienna Kulinski and Jasmine Harford came third. In Female Seniors, Julie Boyd, Julie Tynan and Leanne Hudd took out the Gold, with Angela Johnston, Lauren Degabriele and Linda Neighbour in second place.

The Black Belt division was run across two rings with the Male and Female Kata events running alternatively. Alan Gillert took out the Male section from Jeremy Thompson, with Ian Rollings in third place. Tegan Miller took out her first Senior Gold in winning the Female division. After a second Kata to decide minor places, it was Natasha Stone with Silver and Jenny Miller in third place. Bragging rights went to Tegan over Mum Jenny. Female Kumite semi-finals saw Tanya Tregenza too strong for Tegan Miller, while Natasha Stone took the points over Jess Dubois. It was Tanya who narrowly beat Natasha in the final to take out her first Black Belt Kumite Gold, whilst Tegan also medalled in outpointing Jess to take the Bronze. Male Kumite semi-finals saw Nik McDonald narrowly take the points over Jeremy Thompson, while in the other bout, Alan Gillert prevailed over Ian Rollings. Alan took out the final and the double, by proving too strong for Nik. Jeremy and Ian had a good bout with a narrow win going to Jeremy.

Team Kumite completed the day, with several exciting and close fought bouts. The Gold in the Female division went to the team of Jackie Probert, Jess Dubois, Julie Tynan, Kate Jamieson and Angela Johnston. Silver winning team was Rhiannon Ralph, Linda Neighbour, Lauren Degabriele, Tanya Tregenza and Zoe Tyler, with the bronze going to Carol Blackford, Julie Boyd, Leanne Hudd, Lindy Swift and Becky Wheldrake. The Male event saw Team Jungle take out both bouts to win the Gold, with Corey Burnside, Jeremy Thompson, Nik McDonald, Ian Rollings and Allan Gillert too experienced. Second place went to David Boyd, Steve Tyler, Simon Muir, Anthony Elliott and Torsten Hillmer, with third place to John Edgar, Brenton Wells, Martin Henschke, Adrian Parker and Donny Brooke. It was a great way to end the day and a very popular event with competitors and spectators.

Thanks go to all officials and to all involved in the setting up and running of the event. The State Team took care of the catering as usual and raised nearly $600 towards their end of year travel fund. Thankyou all for your support.

Thanks also go to Drew Andrew, Tamsin Ing and others who provided Photo and Video content from the day.

The official GKR Karate Tournament report can be downloaded here.