4th Scottish International Open Karate Championships
Fallon Rayman and Connor Chatfield competed in the 4th Scottish International Open Karate Championships which were held at Meadowbank Sports Centre, Edinburgh on the 19th and 20th of April 2008.
Countries in attendence were England, Scotland, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Wales, France, Belgium, Latvia and Lithuania.
Fallon was up first with her kata event which was run under WKF flagged rules. She was also one of the first to compete and she performed Jion kata which took her storm through to the second round 3 : 0. Although repeating the kata was allowed Fallon was careful not to repeat the mistakes of the Europeans where she performed two kata against her opponants three and that mistake cost her the Championship title. Therefore, she decided to do a different kata each round and so she chose Wanshu for the second round and went through 2 : 1. By now the standard was exceptionally high but another faultless Kata took her through into the semi's 3 : 0. This pitted her against a very strong Latvian competitor. Fallon tried her best but lost out 0 : 3 but was happy to settle for the Bronze. The top three in this category were the best from the rounds and their skills shone. Fallon could have beaten the girl that took the silver but lost out in the draw. It happens.
Connor stormed through his first round 3 : 0 with an outstanding Wanshu but lost out 1 : 2 in the second round after a slight wobble in the landing of his jump. However, considering his short time in the tournament circuit he performed very well, and certainly a positive force as a contender for the International Tournament Circuit.
Next was kumite. Fallon stormed through the earlier rounds with some of the best kumite that I have seen her execute. She was clearly back on form and it showed. She had a one minute rest before the final and just narrowly lost out to the Scottish Champion. However, Fallon has been ill recently and so her fitness was impaired. Running up and down Arthur's Seat the day before like a loon probably didn't help much either!
Connor had rather a wait before he competed in his kumite and just lost out in one of the earlier rounds when a head kick was disallowed due to very slight contact. Connor's kumite group was huge and he was very unfortunate with his draw in that he came up against some very stiff opposition in the earlier rounds. Nevertheless, he made good use of the area and executed some perfect gyaks and sanbons. This is Connor's first year on the National and International competition circuit and he is coming on in leaps and bounds and enjoying every minute. His nerves have settled well, bearing in mind it is tough for these kids to perform these kata under such pressure and in front of large crowds that are often supporting their opponants. Connor is a mental and tactical fighter and he plays the game well. He is a likely contender for a medal at the JKF Wadokai Europeans in Bucharest at the end of the year. An absolute delight to have in the squad.
Both Fallon and Connor really shone over the weekend and really enjoyed the competition which was very well organised and interesting to take part in.