ISKF Guyana Karate Team Secures 30 Medals

Aug 24, 2018 Sports

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The “20-man” ISKF-Guyana team returned on Monday 20th with a recorded total of 30 medals from last weekend’s successfully concluded 13th ISKF Pan American Karate Championship. The event was hosted by ISKF-Panama at the luxurious Sheraton Bijao Beach Resort in Panama City, Panama.
This year, the event was well attended with a total of 395 athletes that represented 14 Pan American Countries. The largest contingent came from host country Panama with 121 athletes, followed by Mexico with 59 athletes, Argentina and Canada with 38 athletes, United States of America with 35 athletes, and Guyana, Peru, and Uruguay with 20 athletes respectively. Barbados, Brazil, Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador and Jamaica made up the remainder.
The 13th ISKF Pan-American Karate Championship was declared officially opened on Friday, August 19th, 2018 by Chief Instructor/Chairman of ISKF Master Hiroyoshi Okazaki (9th Dan). During the opening ceremony, the Golden Arrow Head was on display by the “20 member” ISKF-Guyana team who bore it with pride before all in attendance. In the lead up to the competition, the Sheraton Bijao Beach Resort was energized and excitement from the spectators filled every square inch of the arena. Of note, this year’s contest was no walk-over as there were excellent showmanship, skill level, respect and camaraderie demonstrated by each competitor and nation alike. Notwithstanding this, and as hard work would have it, in the end, Guyana was able to earn 14 Gold, 11 Silver and 5 Bronze medals.
The individual result and division for team Guyana are as follows:
In the individual events, for the 6-7 years old female kata contest Gia Ramischand won Gold for Guyana, and Silvia Perozo secured Silver for Guyana. Bronze went to the Panamanian.
In 6-7 years old female kumite contest Silvia Perozo won Gold for Guyana, and Gia Ramischand secured Silver for Guyana, Bronze went to the Panamanian.
In the 6-7 years old male kata contest Gael McPherson won Gold for Guyana, Mexico took the Silver and the Bronze went to Panama and Peru.
In the 6-7 years old male kumite contest Gael McPherson won Gold for Guyana, Aiden Persaud secured the Silver for Guyana and the Bronze went to Panama and Argentina.
In 8-9 years old male kumite 6thkyu to 4thkyu – Zadok Yehudah won Bronze for Guyana from among a group of 25 competitors, while in the 8-9 years old female Kumite 6thKyu to 4thKyu, Sylvie Hershberger won Bronze for Guyana.
In the 8-9 years old female 3rdkyu to 1st Dan division, Bianca Campbell won Gold in both kata and kumite for Guyana, while Reia Lee took the Silver in both events for Guyana.
In the 11-12 years old male black belt kumite contest, Akeem Morgan competed with excellence. In a sensational and keenly contested battle in the finals, the petite (in size) Morgan defeated his towering opponent from Barbados to win the Gold for Guyana. In 10-11 years old male kumite 6 kyu to 4thkyu, Oliver Hoke won Silver for Guyana; Ecuador took the Gold and Peru the Bronze.
In the 15-16 years old female black belt kumite contest Kristalia Chaves held her ground in a strong division to earn Bronze for Guyana. The Gold was won by Argentina and Canada copped the Silver.
In the 18-44 years old female 7thkyu to 4thkyuKumite contest, Tamirand De Lisser won Gold for Guyana, Colombia took the Silver and the Bronze went to Argentina and Panama. While in the kata contest Tamirand De Lisser copped 2nd place, winning the Silver for Guyana.
In the 18-44 years old male 7thkyu to 4thkyu Kumite contest, Abdul Hackim won Silver for Guyana and in the Kata contest Bronze. The other places went to Panama.
In the 18-22 years old male kumite category, Alex Rodrigues fought fearlessly to earn the respect of his opponents, however, was unable to medal. Shaqueel Amin on the other hand made light work of his opponents advancing to the semi-finals. He competed against the Mexicans and was unsuccessful in advancing to the finals. In that keenly contested division, the Mexican emerged the winner of the Gold medal, while Argentina won Silver. Amin came in third place and copped the Bronze medal.
In the team events, Team Guyana also did well commencing with the 7-10 years old team Kata contest where Bianca Campbell, Aiden Persaud, and Gael McPherson won Gold for Guyana, while Zadok Yehudah, Silvia Perozo and Oliver Hoke won Silver for Guyana, and the Bronze was won by Panamanians.
In the 11-15 years old team kata contest Kristian Chaves, Kristalia Chaves and Akeem Morgan won Gold for Guyana with 18.9 points. Team USA settled for Silver with 18.8 point, while Peru took the Bronze. After the contest, the 13th ISKF Pan American Championships culminated with a Grand Dinner Banquet at the Shearaton Bijao Beach Resort where the team co-mingled and celebrated with all in attendance.
ISKF-Guyana committee wholeheartedly thanks everyone for their support especially the dedicated instructors and head coach Sensei Christopher Chaves along with Sempai Alex Rodrigues and Sensei Christina Chaves who accompanied the team to Panama. Special thanks are also extended to the Department of Sports, the Guyana Revenue Authority and the scores of parents and friends for their unwavering support. Thanks and recognition is also extended to Ms. Danielle Myers-Hoke (of the US Embassy Georgetown) who went beyond the call to support the team.

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