A karate World Championships without England? This almost unthinkable prospect was so nearly a reality just a few weeks ago. With the finances and management of the not-yet-a-year-old Karate England under scrutiny, and the resultant freezing of the unified Governing Body’s funding, there was a realistic chance that England - winners of the first European team title, holders of two current World individual titles, and countless titles since the inception of these championships - could not afford to attend.
Thanks indeed then must be given to Terry Wingrove and CyberBudo who stepped in at the eleventh hour to sponsor the team and ensure England got its representation at the 18th World Championships in Tampere, Finland. The CyberBudo sponsorship consisted of flights and accommodation and customised team tracksuits for the entire coaching and competing squad. In addition CyberBudo delivered 600 tee-shirts for the squad and supporters, so we cut quite an arresting site in the grandstand, and in and around Tampere. The whole package came to some £30,000, and many of the squad sent personal messages of gratitude to Terry. Jason Ledgister former World Games champion commented “it was a cool idea” for supporters and team to wear matching tee-shirts and “it brought us all closer together, and England seemed to have followers, for once”.
CyberBudo’s benevolence however was still not enough to ensure our attendance. It seems that there was some hiccup in the acceptance of Karate England into the World Governing Body, the WKF. Indeed even as late as September 26th, only two weeks before we were due to depart, WKF Secretary George Yerolimpos told me my press pass could not be granted because “England is not member”.
Some frantic diplomacy by KE president, Victor Charles OBE, and WKF Council member Mike Dinsdale was needed to smooth over our acceptance, and subsequent entry into the blue riband event of world karate. Ticky asked me to acknowledge particularly Mike’s contribution, for which we are all most grateful.
Even so the preparations were far from ideal, with the squad allowed less than a week’s in-country pre-train instead of the customary three weeks. Added to this, our current European Champion Leon Walters pulled out because of his own funding issues, and other members of the squad withdrew injured. Nevertheless there was a definite mood of defiant determination, coupled with a sense of the whole team rallying around coaches Ticky Donovan, Wayne Otto and Dave Hazard.
Tampere itself, Finland’s third city, had prepared itself well for the tournament. The city centre itself proudly displayed banners proclaiming the championships. The spectacular Jäähalli, ice stadium proved an excellent venue with more than adequate parking and transport links. My hotel, the Tammer, some 15 minutes bus ride from the Jäähalli, was an imposing Art Deco edifice with many original 1930’s features, including the curved bar, geometric plasterwork to the high ceilings, and magnificent dining hall. It seems Finland has the measure of marrying the old with the modern.
Inside the Jäähalli the four tatami arena was well equipped with large electronic scoreboards clearly displaying category, country, and round, as well as the actual match score. An outsize video screen at one end displayed the on-mat action as well as replays of the interesting bits. The images were also relayed to half a dozen or more TV screens around the stadium. A steel track for the TV cameras was installed and the event was broadcast internationally - in Europe by Eurosport 2. Not surprisingly then the stadium was packed for all three days, supported by a large international - and a knowledgeable and vocal domestic - crowd.
Thursday opened with a demonstration by the Finish National Opera Ballet School, and a display of ice breaking by local exponent Pekka Oey. The first events of the weekend were the team kata. Like two years ago in Monterrey the Italian team made the male final. Like two years ago the bunkai in the finals was breathtaking. Like two years ago the Italians took the Gold, but this year their opponents in the final were France, not Japan, who only managed Bronze. The male team included the commanding Luca Valdesi whose individual performance of Gankaku gave him an individual gold medal too. This was the same kata with which he won the title in 2004. Silver in the male individuals went to JKF Gojukai stylist Katada of Japan, with Annan.
England’s Jonathan Mottram was on fine form and because he lost to World Champion Valdesi in the third round (both men performing Enpi) was justly entered back into the draw via the repechage. His Kanku Sho and Unsu saw off the South African and Iranian respectively, leaving Jonathan just one win away from a medal – which would be England’s first ever in a World Championships. Regrettably this was not to be Mottram’s day: his performance of Gojushiho Sho was bettered by Venezuelan Antonio Diaz, who’s Chatanyara Kushanku gave him the Bronze medal. A sanguine Mottram was however pleased with his performance and doubtless heartened that he had come so close. Surely he will give it another go in two years’ time?
The female team event saw a French team in the final against holders Japan. This year France’s Laetitia Guesnel and the Buil sisters’ performance of Gojushiho Sho got the better of the Japanese team’s Annan.
Next were the preliminary rounds of the team kumite. For the first time in years England did not field a female team. The male team were drawn against Bulgaria and despatched them with relative ease, winning three bouts to nil and 15 points to 3.
Friday morning began with the team kumite events. In the first round proper of the event England drew Poland and again won three nil. This set up a meeting with Slovakia who had a first round bye to progress to this stage, so would have been relatively fresh.
England’s first man in red (aka) was Rory Daniels, current World Champion. He made relatively light work of Peter Simko, an aggressive -70kg fighter, winning the bout 6-2, picking off his man with 4 gyakuzuki ippon scores in the first 75 seconds; although the Slovak did cause a bit of a scare with a chudan mawashigeri nihon in the final minute. The experienced Rory would not fall for that again though; twice more Simko tried the mawash, both times Daniels got in first with a chudan gyaku.
Jason Ledgister then squared up to Fillip Presinsky, a -80kg man. As is Jason’s style he stalked his man for 40 seconds, with little action from either competitor. Then Jason pounced. His left gyaku was parried, and countered with left jodan mawshi. No score was given. Ao attempted a reverse roundhouse kick: Ledgister nipped inside, swept and punched his man. A cat 1 warning (chukoku) was awarded against the Englishman. Now Ledgister had the measure of his man. A succession of chudan gyaks took the score 3-0 to England. With 40 seconds on the clock, Ledgister began to back-pedal. A cat 2 (jogai) warning against him ensued. A fourth single from a gyaku and it looked like it was all over. With four seconds to go Presinsky grabbed Ledgister and a grapple ended with Jason pushing his man off the mat. The bout resumed just in time for the buzzer. Two bouts to nil and 10 points to two.
Next up, English Champion Alton Brown faced Klaudio Farmadin, knowing a victory would ensure progress to the Quarter Finals. Both combatants were very mobile from the outset, but Alton kept his man pretty well to the mat edge. A clinch, and Alton was thrown, but no score derived. In the first scoring exchange, in my opinion Brown’s gyaku landed first, but the referee thought otherwise and England were 0-1 down. With Brown in southpaw stance Presinsky could not get through the English guard. Alton’s left jodan gyaku levelled the score as the clock hit the two minute mark. Alton’s trademark blitz gave England the lead for the first time. Another blitz drove his man back but failed to score. In an exchange of reverse punches, Brown’s hit first for 3-1. Brown was clearly in control now and kept attacking. The Slovak’s counter failed to score. With 8 seconds on the clock and a two point lead, at the next “Yame” Brown turned his back and adjusted his obi. On “Hajime” Brown attacked again. His opponent tried desperately to grab him, but the buzzer sounded and England had gone through in straight wins.
Meanwhile, in the other half of the table victories over Japan and then Iran meant that England’s Quarter Final opponents were old rivals – and current holders of the world team title – France. As it happens the English and French supporters were sitting in the same part of the auditorium, separated only by the stairway. An energetic but good-natured singing and chanting contest rapidly escalated between the rival groups.
For the Quarter Final England were drawn in ao (blue). In a smart piece of gamesmanship, the English team kept their opponents waiting, only coming to the line to take the rei after their final call. In the first bout Rory Daniels faced Larry Dona. Dona, former junior World medallist, came out on the attack – straight into Daniels’ gyaku to concede ippon after just five seconds. Dona attacked with hook kick and again missed, allowing a successful English counter punch. The bout was largely continued in this vein, and despite a few mishaps Rory dominated the match, winning finally 8-5.
In bout two Jason Ledgister faced former Dutch Open champion, the 65kg karateka Mehdi Alloune. Alloune opened proceedings with an over-the-top fist attack which failed to score first time, but picked up ippon on a second attempt. Ledgister quickly learnt his opponent’s tactics and countered these jodan attacks with a gyaku response under the guard, twice in succession to go 2-1 up. Thus heartened, Ledgister started to attack. His jodan attack floored Alloune for a cat 1 warning (chukoku). Another gyaku to Ledgister and it was 3-1 to England. Ledgister swept his man but could not score. Alloune picked up a cat 1 chukoku for face contact, and a brace of gyakus to level at three each. In the closing minute Ledgister kept his nerve and twice his underneath-gyakuzuki got the better of the Frenchman’s jodan waza. Final score then, 5-3 to England.
With one win needed to go through, Alton Brown, who had beaten Rory Daniels in the English Championships, toed the line. In a scrappy tussle, with some disputed scores, Brown went down 4-0, narrowly missing a sanbon turning ushiro mawashigeri score in the closing seconds.
At two bouts to one Jory Chather squared up to the classy Franck Chantalou, conceding several inches in height and reach. The French squad appear to have been working on this lunging attack over the guard, and Chantalou launched himself at Chather. Jory’s gyaku response underneath the attacking guard picked up the first score of the bout. Both French and English supporters were cheering and singing wildly now. In the next meaningful exchange Chather’s reverse punch was deemed quicker than the Frenchman’s. With 19 seconds on the clock Chantalou picked up a single but it was not enough. Jory Chather had won 2-1, and England progressed to the semi final having beaten their Gallic rivals 3-1, with a great psychological victory.
So on a high, England entered their semi final against Bosnia-Herzegovina. Rory Daniels again was first out, against the light, darting Adnan Hadzic. Hadzic attempted a couple of head kicks, but could not get inside the World Champion’s guard. Rory threw a right punch, which the Bosnian took full in the head and dropped like a stone. For ten seconds or more he didn’t move at all. Then, thankfully he began to stir. The blow was considered so severe that the referee awarded the match to Bosnia, hansoku and 8-0. Jason Ledgister then faced the much taller Admir Zukan. After 10 seconds Jason was 2 ippons down from gyakuzuki scores. This quickly became 3-0. A bruising tussle followed in which no more points were scored, and Jason sustained an injury to his left elbow. Jory Chather had it all to do now against the huge 80kg+ fighter Arnel Kalusic. Despite his size, Jory mixed it, and threw his man to the ground. No score was given, and Chather picked up a cat 1 penalty. A sweep / punch combination from the giant Bosnian gave him a 3 point lead. A further ippon, and a second contact penalty from Chather meant that the final score was 5-0 and therefore the requisite three bouts to Bosnia-Herzegovina. England were denied a place in the final and then faced Russia in the repechage.
In the first bout of the repechage Rory went down to a spinning hook kick from Eldarouchev which meant Daniels was awarded the bout 8-0 (he was wining 2-1 anyway). Unfortunately for Daniels, this “knock out” meant he was not permitted to compete for the rest of the weekend so was denied the opportunity to defend his open weight title. Jason Ledgister made light work of his opponent, beating Yakhiya Shikhakhmedov 6-0, including a spectacular ashibarai/tsuki response to the Russian kakatogeri. (I thought that axe kick was a banned technique, but, no matter.) Former World junior Champion, Davin Pack, his shoulder heavily strapped, beat Marat Aybazof with three straight ippons to zero to secure the team Bronze.
The team, clearly ecstatic flocked around coaches Ticky Donovan, Wayne Otto and Dave Hazard, and in the ensuing crush Ticky found his glasses, hanging on a cord around his neck, bent and misshapen. Wayne Otto told me that his team “deserved the result” and he was “very proud”. He added that the England males had “fought with the best determination of any country” that weekend. It was pleasing to see that our neighbours in the grandstand, the French supporters, were also very happy for the English, and in a sporting gesture, had been cheering us heavily. Of our opponents in the semi’s Ticky said “Every country has their moment, and Bosnia have their moment now”.
In the other repechage medal match Egypt beat Croatia 2-1 for the second bronze and in the final, Bosnia went down 3-0 to Spain, their moment having clearly passed.
In the female kata, European Junior Bronze medallist Samantha Cannon carried the flag. This was her first senior World Championships and the competition is these days of an extraordinarily high standard. In the second round, Sam’s authoritative Bassai Dai beat the Jion of Serbia’s Srekovic. In the third round, Sam met local girl Kulmala. Sam lost out to the Finn’s Nipaipo with Chatanyara Kushanku, but enjoyed a moment of fame as her performance was relayed throughout the stadium on the big screen. She told me it was exciting and an honour to be representing her country, and I feel sure she will be back. The female kata title went to Sara Battaglia of Italy, with her Annan beating Vietnamese Nguyen’s Pachu.
In the individual kumite, England were to find no more medals. Bakhtyar Khazaei, taking Rory Daniels’ place in the openweight made light work of his Polish opponent in the first round winning 4-1. Doubtless spurred on by the vocal support of not only the English supporters, but also the ebullient Iranian contingent, he then demolished Motomura of Japan 6-1. Next Bakhtyar met France’s Ludovic Cacheux, who denied him further progress, Khazaei going out 6-3.
Our under 70k representative was Jason Ledgister. Jason went out in round three to the outstanding, aggressive Aghayev of Azerbaijan who swept aside all his elimination opponents until the Semi Final where he beat Farokhi of Iran by “only” 2 points. The fiery Azerbaijani then beat the talented Belgian Vandershrick in the final, paving the way for Ledgister to join the repechage. Unfortunately Jason went out to Saeed Baghbani of Canada.
In the -75kgs Alton Brown was eliminated by the tall Japanese Matsuhisa, who went on to take Bronze. His shoulder still heavily strapped, Davin Pack was unable to progress beyond the first round, losing 1-3 to Serbian Zivkovic, although a missed jodan mawashigeri from Davin in the last second so nearly changed that result.
In the female kumite, Emma O’Callaghan was beaten in round two of the -53kgs just 3 points to two by Guillette of Canada. In the -60kgs Kerry Gunn also departed in round two, losing 4-6 to Eso Soriano of the Philipines in an exciting bout where the last two deciding points, in the final 20 seconds, could have gone either way; and Melissa Lewis was also a second round victim, she to Croatian Jankovic.
What was the squad’s verdict on the weekend? Rory Daniels declared that “the squad did excellently, especially the men’s team. After looking at the draw, with every major nation in our pool or on the next pool I thought we were going to get beat in the early rounds but we didn’t. We all stuck together and fought excellently taking us to the semi-finals where we were very unfortunate”.
The sense of team spirit was echoed by Jason Ledgister who said “we were a small squad but a tight squad”. He went on; “a bronze out of so much fierce competition ain’t bad at all”.
Rory also had praise for some of the younger squad members who, he said “…fought excellently. Although they got beat in the early rounds they showed courage and I think they are great prospects for the future of English karate”.
Overall Italy’s performance in the kata events gave them top position in the medal table with five Golds. Japan Spain France and Iran each took two Golds and a further 24 countries took at least one medal. Host nation Finland failed to make the podium despite some strong performances and energetic partisan support. For me, notable this year was the high number of attending countries, some 105 compared with 76 last time in Monterrey, and the standard of all of them was high. So much so that amongst 2004’s medallists, Greece and Russia were out of the table altogether. Egypt carried home a total of 7 medals (none in ‘04). Azerbaijan and Iran were impressive and only Valdesi of Italy in the male kata, and Araga of Japan (female -53kg) retained their titles. Indeed the mighty France only managed one kumite gold (Laurence Fischer –female +60kg), a fact bemoaned by the father of French star Olivier Beaudry, with whom I chatted (we both getting by on our best Franglais) at the airport on the journey home.
So although on the face of it disappointing, with an oh-so-close world-class performance by Jonathan Mottram, and our boys beating the French team despite our domestic tribulations, this was a performance England can be proud of. We look forward to Japan 2008 with so many of our stars still at their peak and a wealth of young talent coming through the junior ranks.
