The best karatekas in Oceania gathered this past weekend in Sydney (Australia) to crown the new heroes of the sport in the continent. Alexandrea Anacan, Amy Thomason, Vu Duc Minh Dack, and Tsuneari Yahiro were among the big winners of the event.
The representatives of the organising country claimed the first position of the medal table after taking 23 medals including eight golds. New Zealand and New Caledonia took the second and third spots of the medal table with 13 and five medals respectively.
Tsuneari Yahiro paved the way to gold for the Australian karatekas after taking his fourth continental title. The 31-year-old athlete presented a convincing performance at home and defeated team-mate Ben Debortoli (8-3) to win the crown of Male Kumite -75kg.
In male kumite categories, Australia claimed three more gold medals. Daniel Tielen prevailed in Male Kumite +84kg to claim his first continental title in senior competitions. Max Noble retook the crown that he won for the last time in 2016 in Male Kumite -84kg while Yehia Hasanen won his second consecutive continental title in Male Kumite -60kg. New Zealand’s Barney Gill who had earned the continental crown in 2018 and 2017 collected his third consecutive gold in Male Kumite -67kg thus becoming one of the stars of the event.
Demonstrating outstanding domination of Male Kata, Vu Duc Minh Dack of New Caledonia extended his authority of the category at the continental stage. The 36-year-old karateka who has gathered the title uninterruptedly since 2016 earned the gold medal and the right to participate at the ANOC World Beach Games after defeating New Zealand’s Nicholas Rowsby.
The ticket to the ANOC World Beach Games and the Oceania title in Female Kata went to New Zealand’s Alexandrea Anacan. The 28-year-old karateka defeated Australia’s Ioanna Maria Sampani in the final to win her third continental crown in the category.
Favourites prevailed in the Female Kumite competition with Amy Thomason of New Zealand leading the way to glory. The 30-year-old karateka from New Zealand defeated Australia’s Rebecca Sullivan in the final of Female Kumite -68kg (4-1) to wrap up her third continental title.
In Female Kumite -50kg, Maria Alexiadis of Australia beat team-mate Jamie Kelly-Hoare (2-1) to win her third continental crown while Amy Bongetti also from Australia won her first senior Oceanian gold in Female Kumite -55kg. Kristina Mah and Michelle Wilson completed the titles for the host nation as two-time title-holder Mah prevailed in Female Kumite -61lkg and defending champion Wilson dominated in Female Kumite +68kg.
Source: www.wkf.net
