The 2003 World Shotokan Karate Association Championship took place at the Saalsporthall Stadium in Zurich on the 11 & 12 October.
The full squad in the above picture were (top row – left to right) Austin Shields, Vicky Phillips, Paula White, Zoe Campbell, John Bruce, Chris Cray, Shareena Edmonds, (bottom row – left to right) Matthew Price, Greg Hegarty, Michael Davidson, Dean Field, Liam O’Grady, Stuart Gordon, Jemma Mitcham, Duncan Randall and Tara Cummins.
The event was very well supported with almost 400 competitors taking part. European countries performed particularly well, with srong opposition, particularly from the USA, Russia, Canada, South Africa and Mexico.
The technical standard was extremely high and there was a great spirit and camaraderie, all of which created a terrific atmosphere.
The England Squad achieved the highest tally of gold medals – winning three of the ten events – as well as being placed in two others.
Zoe Campbell of Warwick University took first place in the Senior Female Kumite and John James Bruce of Ashington took first in the Junior Male Kumite, beating a very experienced fighter from Belgium in the final, despite dislocating his toe half way through the match.
The Senior Female Team took gold in the kumite. They went into their final match with Hungary on equal scores and Vicky Phillips from Salford Academy took the lead with a wazari (half point) and then clinched it with a perfectly executed and controlled kick to her opponent’s head (see picture below) for an ippon (full point).
The Junior Male Team took the bronze in the kumite, narrowly beaten by Poland who went on to win the title.
The Men’s Senior Team Kata (Matthew Price, Dean Field and Stuart Gordon) took 4th place, against some excellent opposition.
The KUGB English, Welsh and Scottish Squads all performed very well and their coaches can be justifiably proud.
Full Results:
Junior Male Kumite
1st John James Bruce, England
2nd Arnaud Vicaine, Belgium
3rd Michael Koza, Austria
3rd Andrzej Studzinski, Poland
Junior Team Kumite
1st Poland
2nd Lithuania
3rd Canada
3rd England
Ladies’ Kata
1st Marie Niino, Germany
2nd Doris Gwinner, Austria
3rd Michele Saner, Switzerland
4th Ursula Inzinger, Austria
Ladies’ Kumite
1st Zoe Campbell, England
2nd Marta Szymczak, Poland
3rd Elisabeth Fuchs, Austria
3rd Kristina Bosakova, Czech Republic
Ladies’ Team Kata
1st Austria
2nd Germany
3rd Poland
4th Mexico
Ladies’ Team Kumite
1st England (Campbell, Edmonds, Phillips, Mitcham)
2nd Hungary
3rd Poland
3rd Mexico
Male Kumite
1st Dmitri Formiriakov, Russia
2nd Johan Scheuer, Sweden
3rd Shane Dorfmann, South Africa
3rd Witold Wojciechowski, Poland
Male Kata
1st Fabio Cattaneo, Italy
2nd Barbera Jesus Quinto, Spain
3rd Clay Morton, USA
4th Michael Mack, Germany
Male Team Kata
1st Italy
2nd Poland
3rd Germany
4th England (Price, Gordon, Field)
Male Team Kumite
1st Sweden
2nd USA
3rd Belgium
3rd Germany
Our congratulations to them and all of the Squads and our best wishes to them for the forthcoming ESKA European Championships in December – we are sure they will have great support from our members and friends.
