Medals for karate kids
There was little respite for Oban’s karate athletes as they competed in the World Union of Karate-do Federations (WUKF) Irish Invitational Championships last weekend.
This trip to County Donegal came just six days after the Oban Shotokan Club had won 10 medals at the largest WUKF Scottish Championships in Dundee.
Club coach Rab Neil was in action with two Oban juniors, his son Seoras Neil and Fraser Pollock, with all three of them selected to represent the Scotland Karate Union squad in Ireland.
The competition kicked off on Saturday May 6 in Burnfoot, with registration starting at 9am as a large gathering of athletes meant there were long waits between events.
Unusually, events in the junior sections took place in the afternoon and it wasn’t until mid-afternoon that the Oban juniors were called up to compete in the Individual 11-12 years Nihon.
By this point the junior competitors were flagging slightly and this showed as the first section proved to be a little messy and involving a lack of control.
The first event did not go well for the two young athletes as they failed to make it through the first stage, but after Rab’s efforts to motivate them they put in some outstanding performances.
In the 11-12 years Individual Open, Seoras reached the final and Fraser the semi-finals, winning silver and bronze medals respectively.
This was the most difficult section where they were matched against much higher graded and experienced athletes. It was an amazing turnaround from their previous event and it came before another great showing in the Nihon team doubles rotation event.
The athletes again showed great skill and were able to punch above their level of experience to reach the final of this tough and demanding third section, where they won silver medals.
In the final they were defeated 4-1 by an Irish team who have a string of successes behind them including national and international titles.
Meanwhile, their coach, Rab was also among the medals, winning a silver medal in the Individual Open Ippon and bronze in the Individual Open Sanbon event for 35 years+ veterans. Rab said: “Another high calibre performance and awesome results from Oban Karate Club at a major international karate tournament.
“We will now be concentrating on the up and coming WUKF World Karate Championships in July at Dundee. Several members of our club have made squad selection for the Scottish Karate Union and will be competing at this event.”
He added: “I am hoping to raise some funds for supplying tracksuits, new karate suits and protection equipment before this prestigious event in Dundee for our young Oban athletes.”