Noosa Heads, Queensland Australia has cemented its position as a dominant force in the sport of karate by having six members chosen for the Australian National karate team at the Australian Open held at Caloundra on the 11th to the 13th of April.
The national team will be competing in the Oceania championships in New Zealand in September.
First time Australian team members Ashleigh Jones, Luke Walker, Matthew Shelley, Cheyenne Jarvis & Ruby Drew are thrilled at their selection. Zakaria Khalid & Harrison Fox have been named by selectors as reserves. 2008 is a big year on the international calendar with the Oceania championships to be held in NZ in September & the senior world championship to be held in Tokyo in November.
Karate Budokan chief instructor Wayne MacDonald was very impressed with the teams results at the selection event in Caloundra. Wayne said it was their hard efforts leading up to the event that secured their place in the team. Noosa has an amazing depth of talent in sport karate and this pool is breeding success. At the last Oceania championships in 2006 we had 3 members in the squad.
To make the Australian team is every athlete's dream, now these guys are ready to take the next step and turn that into an Oceania title.
As sport karate is a non-funded endeavour it is now up to our athletes to secure sponsorship and raise money for the cost of representing Australia, this includes travel, clothing, and entry & training fees.
KBI had 20 members contest the championships, 19 from Noosa & Scott Fletcher from Richmond. Scott was unlucky to miss out on National team selection after narrowly losing his fight off in extra time!
Congratulations to all of our athletes Zakaria Khalid (Bronze), Blake Walker (Bronze), Luke O'Meara, Jack Drew, Shelby Slade, Madeleine Blackman, Harrison Fox, Luke Walker (Bronze), Yohei Suzuki, Tyson McEwen, Aimee Avery, Ruby Drew (2 x Bronze), Matthew Shelley (Gold & Silver), Mitchell Barber (Silver), Scott Fletcher (Silver & Bronze), Charlotte Degiorgio (Bronze), Cheyenne Jarvis (Silver), Mitchell Lollback, Ashleigh Jones (Gold & 2 x Bronze) & Jessica Reid (2 x Bronze).
Ashleigh Jones & Matthew Shelley took individual gold medals and our 12 to 15 years girls kumite team took bronze and our 15 to 17 years boys kumite team came home with the silver.
Karate Budokan will be conducting a variety of fundraising events leading up to the championships. If you are interested in sponsoring our stars please call Karate Budokan on 54555222 or email sensei@karatebudokan.com, every little bit helps. Visit http://www.karateworld.com.au for all your latest Karate stories.
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