(from left- David Royle, Aoife Farrelly, Eamon O'Connor,Alan McCann, Andy Sherry, Frank Brennan, JAmes Farrelly, Eleanore Coates, Michael Sherlock and Jennifer Madden).

The USKF were represented at the second KUGB Grand Slam of 2008 by James Farrelly, Aoife Farrelly, Eamonn O’Connor, Eleanore Coates and Alan McCann. The competition is run under European Shotokan Karate Association rules and is intended to give squad members experience for European and World Championships.

With over 100 squad members competing, the standard was very high The USKF contingent performed very well with most progressing through several rounds. Most notable were the kumite matches, where the hard work put in by the team members over the last few months really paid off Each member showed improvement in their personal performances with some excellent techniques translating into points. The most exciting event of the day was arguably the Junior Male Team Kumite where the USKF team fought some outstanding matches to eventually achieve second place. The final match against England was particularly exciting, with England narrowly securing a win to take first place.

The USKF would like to congratulate all those who competed.

J Madden

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