WSKA World Championships 26th & 27th Sept 2009
Cancun, Mexico, was host to the 10th WSKA World Championships held over the weekend of 26th and 27th September 2009. The event is held every two years with the last one having been held in Bydgoszcz, Poland.
Three LKA members were part of the KUGB England Team that made the journey to Mexico to compete. Ashley Scott, David Wright and Ryan Tucker all have experience of this level of competition having competed at a number of European and World Championships over the last few years.
David Wright came home with two medals, both gained in Team events. He was part of the Junior Team Kata that gained a Silver medal position and also the Junior Team Kumite that took Bronze. David also narrowly missed a medal in the Junior Male Kata where he took 5th place. An excellent showing by a talented all-round Karate-ka.
Ryan Tucker was also part of the Junior Team that took Bronze medal. Ryan added to this with an individual Bronze in the Junior Kumite event, a position he also achieved in the Cadet division two years ago in Bydgoszcz. Ryan was also asked to be reserve for the Senior Team that took Gold medal position in the Team Kumite event. Quite an achievement for a 19 Year old!
Ashley Scott had her best ever performance in the Senior Female Kumite event where she took Silver medal, losing to Sweden's Emma Topalovic in the final. The final was a hard fought affair with Ashley losing a lot of blood at one point from a heavy blow to the nose. After going 3-0 down in the final, Ashley pulled the match back to 3-2, one point coming from an excellent back kick before Emma finally managed to pip her to the title 4-2.
The Squad was able to enjoy a couple of days off after the Championships to enjoy the resort of Cancun and by all accounts they all thoroughly recommend Coco Bongo nightclub to anyone visiting the city! The next WSKA Championships will take place in Chicago, USA in 2011.
All at the LKA are very proud of the way our three young competitors represented themselves, the club and the country and wish them all the very best of luck if they are picked to compete at the European Championships in Austria in November. We would also like to extend our congratulations to all the KUGB competitors for their successes in Cancun.