KUGB Student National Championships 2010

The KUGB National Student Championships (often just "the Student Nationals") is the first major competition of the academic year and falls in the middle of Michaelmas Term. The competition is open to all KUGB members in full-time education and is held in Chesterfield.

Photos

View photos of the competition.

Competition Report

On Saturday a squad of CUKC members headed over to Chesterfield to compete in the KUGB Student Nationals. The competiton was tough, with some really high standard karate, but Cambridge came through and showed just how good our club really is!

The men showed an excellent performance, with some outstanding karate displayed by all. The first medals to go to Cambridge came from our kyu grade entries, with Nikon Rasumov and Ahmed Al-Shabab both securing joint third place in individual kumite, 7th-1st kyu, after outclassing their opponents in the eliminations.

Next came the dan grade individual kata, where both Roman Sztyler and Liam Gabb shone through and reached the finals. Roman then left the opposition staring on helplessly as he performed an impeccable Gojushiho Sho to bring gold home for the CUKC. Liam followed with a strong Basai Dai, but was left with 4th place in a close final.

And the medals kept coming, with the Men's A team kumite taking joint third. Cambridge entered two teams, Richard Oriji, Ahmed Al-Shabab and Liam Gabb in A team and Nikon Rasumov and Pragesh Sivaguru in B team. Despite having to forfeit one fight due to numbers, the team fought well, just falling short to some higher graded competitors. The A team rose to the challenge and besting Aberystwyth in the first round with some high quality attacks. Newcastle were next to fall. Being swept away by Richard and Ahmed, leaving Liam only to enjoy his fight and secure a 3-0 win to continue through to the semi-finals in style. Next came Manchester, who just beat the A team in a close semi-final before heading on to eventually win the competition. After an exceptional performance the A team were awarded bronze.

The ladies put in a number of exceptional performances at the Student Nationals. The day kicked off with individual kata, and none of the competitors failed to impress. Madeleine Wood and Gosia Stanislawek managed to qualify to the finals with Heian katas in the preliminary rounds that put their opposition to shame. In the female individual kata finals, Maddy did a powerful and dynamic Sochin kata and Gosia performed a solid Gojushiho Sho kata. After the judges' decision, Maddy and Gosia won 4th and 3rd place respectively.

The individual kumite category was a very exciting one. Helen Picot was matched against a strong opponent in her first round however she rose to the challenge. Despite being neck and neck with the other competitor for most of the round, Helen threw some well targeted and hard punches which won her the fight. In her first ever competition, Maithra Raghu also gave a spirited performance. In the semi-finals, Gosia and Maddy met each other having won their previous fights. The fight was well matched, however Maddy gained the upper hand and won with a couple of strong punches. Having advanced to the final, Maddy showed a wide variety of impressive techniques, narrowly missing out on first place against a tough opponent. Gosia won a bronze medal and Maddy won a silver medal for CUKC in the category.

The ladies' team kumite also competed in the finals for the team kumite category. They were matched against Manchester University, who had already shown in the individual kumite that they had a number of strong fighters. The first fight had Maddy fighting the same girl as she did in her individuals. Unfortunately Maddy narrowly missed out on a win despite good use of the fighting area and some cleverly timed attacks. This put pressure on the two other team members to win their fights if the team was to win. Gosia fought second and first scored a wazari with a strong gyaku zuki. Nevertheless, the highlight of the fight was Gosia's ashi barai followed by a gyaku zuki that caught her opponent off balance and the added punch made them fall to the ground, gaining her a fantastic ippon. Then came Tiina Pajuste, who again fought a fearsome opponent, however Tiina rose to the challenge and won the fight with two well deserved wazaris. The ladies walked away with gold medals.

Congratulations again to everyone who competed, a suberb performance was shown by all. Thank you to Sensei Richard who coached the team and provided that extra edge. And thank you to those who attended to support and coach, your encouragement was invaluable!