GKR Round 2 May 29 2011

Another good entry for Round 2 of the GKR State Tournaments for 2011. As usual numbers varied in divisions, with the younger Junior divisions being the strongest in size. However,there was some excellent kata and kumite 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 Blake Kiesewetter with Cameron Payne taking out the Kumite final. Tara Jeromel proved too strong for Alex Richardson in both kata and kumite in the 6-4th kyu section. In the 8 - 9 year 8-7th kyu division, Kata was won by Tomer Bronshtein with kumite being won by Jack McClounan. In 6-4th kyu action, the Kata winner was Matthew Thompson, with Sienna Kulinski taking out kumite. The 10-11 year age group was well supported. In the 8-7th kyu Female kata, Ashley Pratt took out the gold, with Isabelle Richardson the winner in Kumite. In 12-13 year 8-7th kyu Male division, Jackson Pole took out kata, with Max Hill the winner in kumite. in the 6-4th kyu Male section, Tanis Hillmer took out both kata nad kumite. Jessica Lombardi won the 11-13 year 6-4th kyu Female Kata with Stephanie Antolis the kumite winner. The 12-14 year 3rd kyu + Female Kata was won by Margie Hookway, with Lucille Lott taking out the kumite final. Georgia Hill won both kata and kumite in the 14-15 year 8-7th kyu Female section. In 14-16 year 3rd kyu+ Male competition, Daniel Andrew won the kata event with Jason Spiteri winning the kumite.

On to Senior action and it was Brandon Dodd who won Kata in the 16-20 year 6-4th kyu male division, with Ben Tynan taking out kata. Chris Poore took out both Kata and kumite in the 21-34 8-7th kyu Male division. Kirsty Webb also was a double winner in Female 21-34 year 8-4th kyu competition. Zoe Tyler won both kata and Kumite in the 3rd kyu+ female event. Veteran action saw Adrian Parker the Kata and Kumite winner in the 8-7th kyu Male section. The 6-4th kyu Male event was very competitive with kata won by David Boyd and Torsten Hilmer too strong in Kumite. In the Male 3rd kyu+ section, John McDonald proved too experienced for his younger competitors in winning both kata and kumite. In 45+ 8-7th kyu male division, Anthony Farror took out kata, with Jeff Broadstock the kumite winner. In the 6-4th kyu section Steve Tyler was a dual winner. The 3rd kyu+ Female section saw Jenny Miller win kata and Julie Tynan take out kumite. Lance Carroll won both kata and kumite in the 55 years plus 6-4th kyu Male section.

Team Kata had only a few entries in the Juniors and once again it was the older and more experienced team of Daniel Andrew, Margie Hookway and Jason Spiteri took out first place, with younger team of Rani Kulinski, Sienna Kulinski and Lachlan Carpenter 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 with Tanya Tregenza the female winner. The Male Kumite winner was Daniel Tregenza, with Natasha Stone taking out the female final.

Team Kumite completed the day, with several exciting and close fought bouts. The Gold in the Female division went to the team of Tanya Tregenza, Julie Tynan, Chris McDonald, Katherine Brink and Amie Gibard. Silver went to the team of Becky Weldrake, Carol Blackford, Suzanne Begley, Lena Ong and Tabatha Dodd.  The Male event saw Team Jungle take out both bouts to win the Gold, with Corey Burnside, Darren Twining, Nik McDonald, Ian Rollings and Daniel Tregenza too experienced. Second place went to David Boyd, Steve Tyler, Simon Muir, Lance Carroll and Torsten Hillmer, with third place to Mark Ingle, Justin Hill, Brandon Dodds, James Fowler and Andre Langos. As always, 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 $700 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.