National title success for karate team

A team of students from the Geraldton Karate Academy has won a swag of medals at the sixth Traditional Shotokan Karate-do Federation Australian National Titles in Victoria.

Every member of the nine-person team walked away with at least one medal and sensei Pasco Constantine said he was extremely pleased with their efforts.

In a further boost for karate in Geraldton, three of the team members – Antonio Priolo, Ashlea Ramasamy and Alicia France – were selected to represent Australia at the ISKF World Shoto Cup in Cape Town, South Africa, in August.

For the juniors, Antonio received the junior male spirit award after finishing second in kata, a discipline which requires competitors to perform a detailed patterns of movements, and first in kumite (fighting) in his division.

Ashlea also impressed, finishing third in kata and first in kumite, despite competing with a broken foot, and she duly received the junior female spirit award.

The two other members of the junior squad, Carrissa and Kynan O’Brien, both finished third in their respective divisions for kumite, while Kynan also placed third for kata.

In the seniors, Wendy Surawski finished second in her kumite division, while France placed third in both of the open black belt women’s kata and kumite events.

Meanwhile, Ashlea, France and Cherie Goode finished second in the dojo team kata to round out a successful two days of competition.