It was once again an early start for region 1 as student, officials and spectators set of for the UKITF 2012 Welsh Championships. After a punctual weigh in and umpires meeting the competition was underway, commencing with the black belt tul divisions first.  Great performances where shown throughout the junior, adult and senior categories with student competing to secure themselves in the England squad.

Region 1 showcased a strong start to the event with Mr Brunger and Miss. Cornwell winning gold medals in their respective 4th degree division, a great start to region 1’s medal campaign.  Mr McAvoy and Mr Dempsey further went on to secure both gold and silver in the 3rd Dan division and Jay Gilbert and Gurlaine Sidhu who placed 2nd and 3rd in a very competitive female division. A good performance was also shown by Prit Sidhu who placed second in the 4th Dan female category losing only to team mate and fellow region 1 member Laurie Cornwell.

As the degree patterns came to an end and sparring division were called, the region 1 competitor’s had the opportunity to showcase their hard work and dedication in preparation for the competition. Up first was Mr L. Hollingsworth who wowed the crowd with a display of fast, accurate and controlled techniques, comfortably winning in the light weight sparring category. Further strong performances were shown by Matthew Brunger who fought well to win gold in the middle weight division and Luke Dempsey who after 4 minutes of world class sparring lost out to current European Champion Reece Nicholls. The ladies categories once again saw another competitive battle between Laurie Cornwell and Prit Sidhu as they fought in the middle weight division with Prit narrowly winning, securing herself in 2nd place. The silver position was also gained by Jay Gilbert and Gurlaine Sidhu who both gave it their all in close final play offs.

Once the adult categories had finished it was time for the juniors and Kup grades to carry the torch for region 1. Up and coming Junior Aaron Mather fought exceptionally well in the junior micro-weight division against Jamie Martin, as did Harry Evans and Harry Hetherington who achieved gold and silver respectively in the 3rd to 1st Kup middle weight sparring category. Fellow competitor Jason Morrison also had a strong competition placing 3rd in his patterns division and dominating his sparring category to win gold. Hillingdon student Ryan Meredith similarly excited the crowd winning gold in sparring and bronze in patterns. Juniors Katie and Trisha we also a credit to region 1 with a determined Katie Hetherington winning gold in her sparring division and Trisha Gurung earning bronze in her first national competition.

Last up to compete were the Kup grade adults who had patiently spent the whole day warming up, mentally preparing and of course cheering for their fellow team members. In a competitive division Ryan Hamdy secured Silver medal in patterns and Bronze in sparring after continuing to fight with an injury to his foot. In their second nation competition Jackson Saju and Frances Almeida-Davis were eager to enter the ring and do their best. Frances once again achieved gold in both patterns and sparring. A great start to her competitive career. Jackson also competed well leaving with Bronze in patterns, silver in sparring and gold in the Kup power event; a great confidence boost to these junior grade students.

Region 1 would like to send its appreciation to the organisers, umpires and supporters that contributed to making the competition the success that it was and congratulate all those that travelled and competed in the competition.