England Second on the medal table at the JKS World Championships!
The 2016 JKS World Shoto Federation Karate Do Championships were held on Friday 9th and Saturday 10th September in Glasgow, Scotland.
A large team of thirty-eight competitors were selected to represent England at the event and were accompanied by Squad coaches Matt Price and Nick Head plus a referee delegation of Head of JKS England Alan Campbell, JKS England Chief Referee Geoff Dixon and six other JKS qualified England referees; Paul Brant, Steve Carless, Rob Edwards, Mike Gude, Danny Jordan and Paul Wolstencroft. The team also took a good amount of supporters from England for the event.
After two solid days of hard competition the squad have returned home with 12 Gold, 6 Silver and 13 Bronze medal positions. The medal haul saw England finish second on the medal table, behind Japan in an event which saw twenty-six nations competing at the event. This is the best ever result at this level for our squad and they surpassed the expectations of the Coaches. Nick Heald commented “everybody seemed to rise to the occasion with some exceptional performances over so many categories and age groups”.
Whist it is difficult to single out particular individuals there are a few that need a special mention. Amber Bannister took 5 medals overall including individual Gold in Female Kumite 16-17 years and Gold in Team Kata and Team Kumite for 14-16 Years. She also stepped up to the Senior Team Kumite team along with Laura Mackintosh who was also part of the Victorious 14-16 Year old team. Excellent maturity from these two young Ladies.
Grace Baron had a great weekend taking 4 medals home, including Individual Gold in 8-12 Years Koten Kata and Team Kumite for 10-11 Year old girls. Another great all-round performance.
Lacie Stembridge also came home with 4 medals including Individual Gold in 13-17 Years Koten Kata and Team Kata for 14-16 Year olds.
JKS England Squad Captain, Ashley Scott-Heald, led by example leading the Senior Ladies Team to a creditable Silver medal in Team Kumite where they lost to Japan in the Final. She also and had a terrific set of matches in the Senior Female Individual Kumite where she progressed to the Semi-Final having beaten one of the Japanese Team on the way before meeting Mayumi Someya in perhaps the most exciting match of the whole championships, where Ashley was pipped 3-2 and had to settle for Bronze.
JKS England Head Coach Matt Price also commented on the teams performance “Every member of the squad performed superbly. They all showed what they can do and can be very proud of their achievements. I now look forward to the squad building on these successes. Thank you also to all the supporters, friends and family members who cheered us on and enjoyed the triumphs with us. What a fantastic weekend! Well done all!”
The event itself was superb, being held in the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome at the Emirates arena. A huge thank you to Paul Giannandrea and his team from JKS Scotland for holding such a well organised international event.
The JKS England Squad was fantastic over both days but their efforts do not stop there. In 2 weeks time sixteen of them will be competing at the British Open in Sheffield, which is a WKF International event. That same weekend, Ashley-Scott Heald and Lee Lamb will be in Hamburg to compete at the WKF Premier League along with competitors from 72 countries. Always pushing on for more success!!
Our full results were:
Gold (JKS World Champions!)
16-17 Female Kumite - Amber Bannnister
16-17 Male Kata - Johann Santos
13-17 Koten Kata - Lacie Stembridge
12-13 Male Kumite - Joe Hird
12-13 Female Kumite - Amy Tegetmeier
12-13 Male Kata - James Harrison
8-12 Mixed Koten Kata - Grace Baron
14-16 Female Team Kata - Amber Bannnister, Sarah Howarth, Lacie Stembridge
14-16 Female Team Kumite - Amber Bannnister, Sarah Howarth, Laura Mackintosh, Georgia Freer
11-13 Male Team Kumite - Joe Hird, Harry Hardcastle, Isaac Mitchell, Seb Mitchell
11-13 Female Team Kumite - Grace Baron, Amy Tegetmeier, Alice Whittington
11-13 Mixed Team Kata - John Gough, James Harrison, Joe Hird
Silver
16-17 Female Kumite - Laura Mackintosh
16-17 Female Kata - Lacie Stembridge
12-13 Male Kumite - Isaac Mitchell
12-13 Female Kata - Grace Baron
Senior Female Team Kata - Amber Bannnister, Emma Barker, Lacie Stembridge
Senior Female Team Kumite - Ashley Scott-Heald, Amber Bannnister, Laura Mackintosh, Tanya Handley
Bronze
Senior Female Kumite - Ashley Scott-Heald
Senior Female Kata - Emma Barker
Senior Koten Kata - Lee Lamb
18-21 Male Kumite - Tom Mitchell
14-15 Female Kata - Amelia Stanley
13-17 Koten Kata - Rowan Reeve
14-15 Female Kumite - Sarah Howarth
14-15 Female Kumite - Ece Besen
12-13 Female Kumite - Grace Baron
Senior Male Team Kumite - Ben Richardson, David Lister, Sam Coxon, Joe Bulmer, Tom Mitchell
Senior Male Team Kata - Lee Lamb, Johann Santos, Jordan Weatherley
17-19 Male Team Kumite - David Lister, Tom Mitchell, Zach Sharp
14-16 Male Team Kata - James Harrison, Steven Jaremko, Rowan Reeve