Australian Open Karate Tournament

Last Friday we had another early start for another karate tournament. This one was the Australian Open and had competitors from Fiji, New Caledonia, New Zealand, the UK as well as interstate competitors. In DS's divisions there were a couple of kids from interstate as well as the usual ones he comes across in Victoria. He was entered into 2 sections, the kyu grade (basically anyone who isn't a black belt from what I can gather) and the open (for everyone including black belts). He had a major loss of balance in his first kata in the kyu grades and lost out in the first round. He didn't let that bother him in the open though. He got a bye in the first round, he won his second round 3-0, then lost 0-3 to the eventual winner in the third round. There was a repecharge system in place, meaning he could come back and try for one of the third place medals on offer. He came up against the 2nd place getter from the Victorian Championships and won 3-0, taking the bronze medal for his half of the draw. Another Victorian took 3rd place in the other half. First and second place getters were both from interstate and quite strong, so he did well.

Apologies for the washed out pics, not sure why the camera won't play fair today:

  

I'm still cross stitching away on the 3 Christmas bears, making good progress.