Lancaster 82 – 12 York
It’s safe to say that not only did Lancaster thrash York overall, their performance in the Karate tournament was also somewhat lacking. The Lancaster team not only out-performed their rivals but also outnumbered them leaving a lot of work to be done for the York side. The tournament began with Mixed Novice Kata where Chris Cook (Lancaster) took GOLD, William Mcluskie (Lancaster) took silver and Arunav Gaur (York) took bronze.
The second event of the day was the Mixed Senior Kata where both sides showed excellent skill and confidence. The medal position was a very closely fought battle between York and Lancaster, with excellent kata shown from Alice Flinta, Ryan Cooper and Robert Mawdsley. Alice Flinta fiercely stole the gold medal from Ryan, but it was very close to call. Ryan Cooper took second place followed closely by team member and President of the club Robert Mawdsley.
The first kumite category to take to the mat was the women’s. The large Lancaster group posed a great threat for the smaller York side. The final was a very tough fight between two Lancaster team mates (Imogen Skipper and Amy Freeman) ending with gold for Imogen and silver for Amy. It was a great show of the club’s talent and the fight was a testament to the club coach Andrea Carbon. Third place was taken my York’s Alice Flinta.
The Men’s Kumite was a great battle where Lancaster took all three medal positions from their rivals York. Callum Croft showed superior skill using his long reach to his advantage to take first place. This was followed closely by William Mcluskie in second and James Naylor in third. This is Will’s last Roses, so medalling was a great way to finish his time with the karate club. Dissapointment was voiced from competitors that their efforts and successes seemed of less value to the university as their wins did not contribute points to the overall score: perhaps something for the committees to look at in future?
Both teams also agreed to a friendly Team Kumite event, although Lancaster won it was very close and a great way to end an even better competition for both Lancaster and York Universities.
Both York and Lancaster would like the thank all the referees who came and supported the event: Simon Bligh, Martyn Skipper, Neil Robinson, Sandra Carr and John Carr.
