February 6th - 2nd day of competition

Competition Day 2 of the Junior & Cadet European Championships and more medals for the England squad. The Cadets secured a bronze between themselves, the Juniors collected three medals, two bronzes and a GOLD out shining the younger counterparts. The squad was very lucky to have Deniz Kiymaz from the British Consulate attending these championships today to support the squad. She also had been following the squads progress on the EKF website and was keen to see them in action which was a boost for the athletes.

Emma Lucraft – Female Junior Kata

Once again it was the Kata competitors up first with Emma competing in her 2nd European Championships. Emma had a 1st round bye putting her in the 2nd round to face an opponent from the host nation, Turkey.

Both Emma and the Turkish competitor performed Bassai-Dai Katas but it was the Turkish competitor who won the round 4 flags to 1. The Turkish girl went out later on in the competition leaving Emma unable to compete for bronze via repechage.

Alex Gardner – Male Junior Kata

Alex made a good start to his individual campaign winning 3 flags to 2 against his Azerbaijan opponent. Alex performed Kanku-Dai Kata whilst his opponent performed Jion but Alex’s performance just stole it.

The 2nd round saw Alex face home favourite Turkey. Alex performed his second compulsory Kata, Jion with the Turkish opponent matching his Kata. Very close again with a 3-2 split decision but this time it was against Alex. Unfortunately there was to be no repechage for Alex either as the Turk was later beaten in the competition.

Ryan Jay – Male Junior U55kg

Defending European champion, Ryan was one of the first of the fighters up on the mats following the Kata competitors. Ryan’s 1st round opponent was from Latvia and both fighters started off their campaigns cautiously. It was nearly a minute before Ryan’s attack broke the deadlock giving him a 1 point lead. This woke his opponent up who then pressed Ryan for the equaliser, but Ryan secured the win with 4 seconds left on the clock catching his opponent with a Jodan Mawashigeri kick to win the fight 4-0.

The 2nd round pitted Ryan against an Italian opponent. It was the Italian who took the lead following a 50/50 Gyakusuki punch exchange but Ryan soon equalised on the minute mark with his own Gyakusuki. Neither fighters scored any more so the fight went into 1 minute of extra time. Ryan was penalised for contact giving a point away to his opponent but the favour was soon returned as the Italian received his 2nd warning to level the scores 1-1. However, Ryan finally took the lead scoring with a Gyakusuki to seal the narrow win.

Ryan started his 3rd round fight against his Turkish opponent well scoring within a few seconds with a Gyakusuki punch. However, Ryan’s second warning for contact with just 6 seconds left on the clock saw the scores level to 1-1 and the fight inevitably went into extra time. Ryan opened the scoring again in extra time with another Gyakusuki and victory was sealed with a point awarded to him following a warning for feigning injury for his opponent with Ryan taking a 2-0 extra time win.

The 4th Round pool final against a Georgian opponent saw Ryan finally show his form as he quickly scored a Gyakusuki punch to take a 1-0 lead. Ryan followed with up with another as his opponent caught Ryan in the face giving Ryan an extra point and a 3 point cushion. However, no cushion was needed as Ryan then scored two successive Jodan Mawashigeri kicks to win the fight 9-0 and see Ryan safely into another European final.

The final

Ryan’s final opponent hailed from Russia and looked like he meant business but Ryan had other ideas and soon scored a Gyakusuki punch to open the scoring and put pressure on his opponent. The Russian then pressed forward for the equaliser and Ryan was able to pick off his opponent scoring twice more from Gyakusuki punches, one over the top to take a 3-0 lead. As the clock ticked down the last 10 seconds the England supporters and squad chanted down the time and exploded into applause as England secured the first gold of these championships. Well done.

Gavin Bailey – Male Junior U68kg

Gavin’s faced a Greek opponent in his 1st round match and just after the opening walked into a Jodan Mawashigeri kick to go 3-0 down. Gavin was then caught with a Gyakusuki punch to drop another point. As Gavin chased the fight he gave away a penalty for contact to go 5-0 down and things looked all but over when his opponent scored yet another Gyakusuki punch. However, Gavin wouldn’t give up and his fighting spirit saw him reduce the deficit by 3 points as he scored a Jodan Mawashigeri of his own but it was too late for the comeback and on the bell Gavin was caught by another Gyakusuki to seal his fate.

Jay Kirton – Male Junior U61kg

Could Jay go one better than his bronze medal from last years Junior Europeans – NO. However he did match that performance to secure another European bronze medal. Jay’s 1st round opponent was from Latvia and looked fast and quick but Jay was always pressing the fight. The action was fast paced with Jay trying a takedown but there was no scores as the clock ticked down. Finally with 6 seconds left Jay beat the Latvian’s defence scoring a Gyakusuki punch to seal the win.

The 2nd round fight looked to be another close fight as Jay initially went down 1-0 to his Hungarian opponent following a Gyakusuki punch. Jay soon equalised with his own Gyakusuki and then took the lead with another Gyakusuki. As his opponent pressed for a score Jay landed a good Jodan kick to seal the win 5-1 on the buzzer.

The 3rd round saw Jay dominate his Slovokian opponent storming to an 8-0 win. Jay opened the scoring with a Gyakusuki and followed this up with another 4 Gyakusuki’s without reply to go 5-0 up. Jay topped his victory in style with a takedown to complete an impressive win.

The 4th round was the pool final which saw Jay fighting for a place in the final. Jay started brightly against his French opponent but a 50/50 Gyakusuki exchange on 30 seconds went to the French fighter. Jay chased the fight but was caught with another Gyakusuki and the fight ended with Jay on the wrong side of a 2-0 score line.

Although Jay lost the pool final, he was now fighting for bronze in the repechage final against a Scottish opponent in this best of British clash. Jay scored twice in this encounter, once with a quick takedown to score 3 points and once with a Gyakusuki punch to seal a 4-0 win and a bronze medal.

Kate Karwacinski – Female Junior U59kg

Good start for Kate as she received a 1st round bye to place her safely in the 2nd round. Kate went down a point early on in this fight conceding a Gyakusuki punch but she soon levelled the score with her own Gyakusuki. Kate then score another to go 2-1 ahead and extended her lead further to 3-1 with another scoring Gyakusuki. Near the end Kate was penalised for holding and gave away a point but she had done enough to secure the win 3-2.

The 3rd round pitted Kate against an Austrian opponent who caught Kate with a Jodan Mawashigeri kick to go 3-0 ahead. The Austrian fighter then caught Kate with two successive Gyakusuki’s to win the fight 5-0 leaving Kate a chance in repechage.

Kate took full advantage of her repechage chance as the Austrian made the final leaving Kate in the repechage semi-final facing  a Slovakian fighter. Kate dominated this fight scoring with a Gyakusuki punch and then a Jodan Mawashigeri kick to go 4-0 up. Another Jodan Mawashigeri saw another 3 points awarded to Kate and the victory was sealed with a final Gyakusuki and a contact warning penalty point awarded to Kate givingher an impressive 9-0 win.

The repechage final saw Kate face an Italian opponent. No score within the first minute but Kate broke the deadlock scoring a Gyakusuki pinch. Kate doubled her lead soon after with another Gyakusuki punch to win the fight 2-0 and gain a European bronze medal.

Philippa Morris – Female Junior U54kg

Pippa received a 1st round bye which placed her into the 2nd round. Pippa looked sharp coming out to face her opponent but was caught almost instantly with a Gyakusuki punch to go 1-0 down. Pippa fought back well and levelled the score with her own scoring Gyakusuki and then went 1 point ahead with another Gyakusuki punch.

However, her opponent scored twice more with successive Gyakusuki punches to take the lead and eventually win the fight 3-2 despite Pippa’s best efforts to score again.

Hannah Baker – Female Junior +59kg

Although Hannah secured a silver at last years Junior European championships, there was to be no repeat of this feat this year as she bowed out in the opening round to her Italian opponent. Hannah was caught with a Gyakusuki punch within the first 10 seconds and try as she might, she just couldn’t get through the Italian’s defence to gain any points and lost the fight by this single point.

Hannah’s Italian victor went on to make the final leaving Hannah in the 1st round of repechage facing a Bosnian fighter. Hannah was once against caught with a Gyakusuki punch and went 1 point down. As she tried to level the score she was caught once again. Hannah was then penalised for contact and let another point slip dropping to 3-0. It was soon 4-0 as she was caught once again but she managed a consolation Gyakusuki score near the end as the fight finished 4-1 against her.

Joshua Gagon – Male Junior +76kg

Josh had a tough fight in his opening round encounter with his French counterpart who looked sharp and quickly scored a Gyakusuki punch against Josh taking a 1-0 lead. Another Gyakusuki punch saw the French fighter go 2-0 up. Josh reduced the deficit by scoring with his own Gyakusuki punch  but with 30 seconds left on the clock the French fighter restored his 2 point lead following a Gyakusuki punch and saw out the reaming time left defending his lead.

The French fighter went on to make the final leaving Josh in the repechage 1st round. Josh’s opponent favourite technique was the sweep as he slam-dunked Josh at least 5 times without scoring. Josh couldn’t find a way to score either and the fight went into extra time. Inevitably Josh’s opponent finally manage to score from a takedown to take a 3-0 lead. As Josh chased the points he was caught with a Jodan Mawashigeri kick losing another 3-0 which ended his medal hopes.

Stephen Karwacinski – Male Junior U76kg

Steve’s 1st round opponent was a tall German who used his legs and reach well but Steve’s speed was better as he was the first to score taking a 1-0 lead following his Gyakusuki punch. Steve gave away the lead following his 2nd contact warning giving a point to his opponent but he made amends with 1 second left on the clock scoring a decisive Gyakusuki punch to steal the win.

The 2nd round pitted Steve against a Belgium opponent. Both fighters fired off Gyakusuki punches with the Belgium getting the point. Another 50/50 exchange and the point went Steve who levelled the scores within the first 30 seconds of this fight. There were two more 50/50 Gyakusuki exchanges, each fighter gaining a point each. The Belgium then gave away a penalty point following a contact warning and Steve extended the lead scoring a Gyakusuki to go 4-2 up. The Belgium then sealed his own fate with another contact warning against him giving Steve 2 more points and an unassailable lead. Steve did step out of the area in the dying seconds to give a point away but he had already secured the win.

Facing a Norwegian opponent in the 3rd round saw Steve up against a fast opponent who just seemed to outpace Steve. The Norwegian fighter scored twice off his front hand before scoring with 2 Gyakusuki punches to take a 4-0 lead. Steve was penalised for holding twice giving away a point on the second warning and a final Gyakusuki from his opponent saw Steve bow out 6-0 down.

Steve did make repechage and faced a Ukrainian opponent in his opening round. This was a close fight with the deadlock broken with a Gyakusuki score going against Steve. With 3 seconds left on the clock Steve pressed forward but was caught with a final Gyakusuki punch that saw Steve’s medal hopes fade with this 2-0 defeat.

Ø Back to top