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Four Ilkley Karate Club members shone in the English Karate Federation's (EKF) Hull and East Yorkshire Tournament, which attracted over 400 competitors from all over the country.
The Ilkley team consisted of Piers Walton and black belts Andrew Johnston, Elly Field, 12, and Tanya Donkin, 13, who did well in their first EKF event. The standard in the kata (set moves) and kumite (free fighting) was high, Menston schoolgirl Elly just missing out on a place in the semi-finals of the mixed brown and black belt kata, going down 2-1. In the open grade fighting events, the Ilkley girls won comfortably in the elimination rounds.
Tanya, a current world champion, was beaten in the semi-finals and settled for a bronze, while Elly, the smallest in the category, was beaten by one point in her semi-final, even though she had scored in the final seconds - something the judges failed to score. Johnston made a promising debut in the men's under 75kg kumite event, which was a higher weight division than he is used to. In a very competitive category, Andrew narrowly lost out in the quarter-finals.
Ten-year-old Piers put in an excellent performance, but unfortunately he was up against more experienced children and missed out on his final.
Source: The Telegraph and Argus
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