York were overpowered by an impressive Lancastrian performance in both Karate events.
Although one of the lower-profile events, the karate certainly turned out to be an entertaining watch – the tie was split into two halves, Kata and Kumite, both of which were worth two points (one for the men’s and one for the women’s).
First came the women’s kata, which involved each competitor in turn performing set patterns of movements simultaneously with a conterpart. York got off to a good start by winning the first head- to-head but then, although to the untrained eye there was little to choose between the two sides, the judges were unanimous in awarding the remaining two mini-contests to the home team.
The York men were similarly unlucky in their Kata event, also losing 2-1 to Lancaster. Both points for the Kata, therefore, went to Lancaster.
The real drama of the karate however came in the combat event, Kumite, which followed. The first female kumite fight was extremely tightly-fought, but Lancaster ended up just edging it with a narrow 3- 2 victory.
The second saw another close call; it was a fast-paced encounter which this time resulted in York defeating Lancaster by 3 points to 2. So it all came down to the final pair who certainly put on an entertaining decider. The final York female competitor was put on the back-foot from the start, going down 1 point quickly and having to do some anxious defence from the vicious blows of the Lancastrian. However, she turned it around, dominating the rest of the fight with a multitude of excellent moves earning her a 5-3 win for York. The away team won the event 2-1.
The final event, the men’s kumite, however, was less enjoyable for the York competitors. All three of the Lancaster men dominated their respective fights, with several impressive Sanbons (worth 3 points, the highest possible number to be earned from a single move) being awarded to the home team over the three encounters. They ended up reaching the quota of 8 before the 3 minutes were up in all three fights, winning 8-1, 8-0, 8-0, and therefore the event 3-0.
A disappointing day for the York’s male Karate competitors, who were comprehensively beaten in both events, was one of mixed-emotions for the women who won one and lost one of their events. In the end, Lancaster took home the lion’s share of the points: 3 of a possible 4. Although there were glimmers of potential from the York team, Lancaster were deserving winners.