Ashton Bovell showed that skill rather than size is what counts as he dominated the male six-to-eight-years-old category in both the kata and kumite competitions when the Guyana Karate Federation (GKF) held its 2010 National Junior Karate Championships at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall last weekend.

With the two contests running concurrently, hungry spectators were fed a thrilling afternoon of healthy karate competitions that included several other good performances in addition to Bovell’s.

The older and bigger adversaries might have underestimated the shortest participant in the category but Bovell gave as good as he got in all of his kumite matches.

He also displayed expert techniques in the kata exercises which left the judges in no doubt about who was the best.

In his opening kumite encounter, Bovell vied against A Prashad and who put up a challenge but Bovell managed more contact punches which saw him defeating Prashad 10 – 3. He gained another 10 points in his match against Noah Ferouz to win with a nine point lead, earning a place in the final where he defeated the  towering Shemar Hope (10 – 0) to gain first place, with Hope second.

Nathan Hackett placed third and Ferouz, fourth.
In the kata exercises, Bovell made his presence felt when he beat Hackett in the opening round. He then won matches against John McGrath in the semi-final and Nick Naay in the final to receive first place for his category.

Naay was second, McGrath third and Khalid Adams fourth.

In the females six-to-eight-years-old category, Jenny Duke prevailed in the Kumite competition.

With four participants in the category, Duke vied andf won against Shana James (12 – 9) and Aliya Wong (15 – 9) to earn her top spot. Wong was second with James  third and Akashani Alli fourth.

However it was Wong who stepped it up in the kata exercises, copping first place ahead of Alli who placed second, Aaliyah Seeram in third and Sonia Lynch fourth.

In the nine-to-11-years-old kumite category, an astute Atashieha Bovell reigned over her adversaries. In her first match Saleriena Blair was no match for Atashieha’s agile movement and the match was settled at 5 – 2 by the end.

In her match-up against Dominique Babb, Atashieha Bovell noting  her height disadvantage early on,  sensibly kept her distance from Babb occasionally closing in only to deal a blow through Babb’s weak defence. With Babb unable to get to her, Babb’s score was left empty when the encounter ended 4 – 0 in Bovell’s favour.

In the final, BOvell to a wildly cheering crowd defeated Leah Shariff who up until then was the crowd’s favourite.

She dominated the match which ended with a 7 – 1 score. Babb won third place from Samela Britton.
Crowd pleaser Sharriff satisfied her fans when she won the top spot in the kata competition followed by Kelly-Ann Fortune and Tashana Wong respectively.

In the male grouping Joshua Mortley and Courtney Williams ruled the kata and kumite competitions, respectively.
In a presentation ceremony at the end of the matches the winners was awarded trophies compliments of the National Sports Commission. Japarts was also commended for sponsoring the tickets and programmes.
Results
6 – 8 years old
Females
Kata

First       – Aliya Wong

Second – Akashani Alli

Third     – Aaliyah Seeram
Kumite

First     – Jennay Duke

Second –  Aliya Wong

Third     – Shanina James
Males

Kata

First      – Ashton Bovell

Second – Nick Nagy

Third     – John McGrath
Kumite

First        – Ashton Bovell

Second  – Shemar Hope

Third      – Nathan Hackett
9 – 11 years old:

Females

Kata
First      – Leah Shariff

Second – Kelly-Ann Fortune

Third     – Tashana Wong
Kumite

First      – Atashieha Bovell

Second – Leah Shariff

Third     – Dominique Babb
Males

Kata

First      – Joshua Mortley

Second – Alexander Cheeks

Third     – Yannick Rameshwar
Kumite( 40kg)

First      – Courtney Williams

Second – Alexander Cheeks

Third     – Jarrell Duke
Kumite (40+kg)

First       – Prince Alquedowan

Second – Nicholas Rampersaud

Third     – Mathew Hurry
12 – 14 years old:

Females

Kata
First       – Christy Dey

Second – Amber Low

Third     – Darien Dey
Kumite
First       – Theresa Cordis

Second – Simonica Fanfar

Third     – Ayodell Bovell

Males

Kata

First       – Shaquille Sobers

Second -Tariq Baksh

Third     – Keymo Alleyne
Kumite (-45kg)

First       – Shem Wilkie

Second – Derron Melville

Third     – Nicholas Kissoon
Kumite (45+kg)

First       – Keymo Alleyne

Second – Shaquille Sobers

Third     – Sanjay Veersammy
15 – 17 years old:

Female

Kata
First        – Kristina Cheeks

Second – Ashley Lopes

Kumite

First       – Kristina Cheeks

Second – Ashley Lopes

Third     – Mahadevi Prashad
Males

Kata
First       – Lloyd Gibson

Second – Kevin Kellman

Third     – Eric Hing
Kumite (-55kg)
First       – Kenny Wong

Second – Paul Persaud

Third     – Shane Rahaman
Kumite (55+kg)
First       – Loyd Gibson

Second – Samuel Ming

Third     – Eric Hing