Elite Team scores eight world titles in England

OWENSBORO’S TRADITIONAL KARATE ELITE TEAM CHALLENGES WORLD AND CLAIMS 8 MORE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

SHOTOKAN KARATE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

FSKA IX Annual

Crawley, England
October 13th & 14th, 2007

The IX Annual Funakoshi Shotokan Karate Association (FSKA) World Championships kicked off 2 days of competition in Crawley, England on October 13th.  Fifteen competitors from Owensboro’s own Traditional Karate Elite Competition Team traveled over 4000 miles to take on the world’s best.  With an amazing 50% title rate, 7 team members won 8 World Championship titles against over 1000 competitors from countries as far away as South Africa and Ghana.  In addition to the 8 Gold Medals, team members won 3 Silver and 6 Bronze bringing the total medal count to 17.  Owensboro’s new world champions are Zeke Boarman, Stacey Hatfield, Claire Ottman, Dwight Ottman, Sensei Allen Renfrow, Madison Taylor, and Jamie Terry.

Leading the Gold Medal charge was double Gold Medal winner Stacey Hatfield who competed in the Women’s Beginner’s Kata (Forms) and Kumite (Sparring).  Stacey, a former Apollo High School basketball standout, defeated women of higher rank in her quest for the Gold.  Jamie Terry,  a Senior at Apollo High School, added to her 2006 World Championship Kata title by claiming the 2007 title of World Champion in Kumite when she fought in the Women’s Cadet Black Belt division.  Zeke Boarman, a 2007 graduate of Daviess County High School and Whitesville native, added World Champion to his name by capturing the Kata title and then narrowly missed a second crown when he won the Silver Medal in Kumite.  Tiny Madison Taylor and Claire Ottman earned each of their World Champion honors in their respective advanced divisions of the Kata competition.  Sensei Renfrow led his team and captured the Gold in the heavily contested Men’s 45 – 49 Black Belt Kata division.  Dwight Ottman completed the Gold Medal charge when he won in the Men’s 40 – 49 Advanced Super Heavyweight Kumite division.

Madison Taylor, who just recently returned from a double Gold Medal performance at a St. Louis tournament, nearly performed a repeat when she won the Silver Medal in the Girls 8 – 9 Advanced Kumite.  Destin Hudson, a 2005 & 2006 World Champion from Daviess County High School and the University of Louisville, almost added a 3rd crown to his impressive list of titles when he won the Silver Medal in the Men’s 22 – 34 Black Belt Kumite. 

Bronze Medals were aplenty as Claire Ottman (Kumite), DJ Ottman (Kata), Sensei Renfrow (Kumite), Tony Taylor (Kata & Kumite), and Jamie Terry (Kata) all scored impressively to earn these honors.  Narrowly missing medals, but finishing strong in 4th place were Craig Morris (Kumite), David Newton (Kata & Kumite) and Zac Ottman (Kata).  Jamal Thruston and Zach Park each competed in the intensely competitive Black Belt Cadet’s Men’s 18 – 19 divisions.  They both made it through the qualifying rounds to compete in the finals for Kata.

An additional honor was bestowed upon Destin Hudson when he was invited to compete for the United States team in Team Kumite.  The US team narrowly lost against the team from England which went on to win the Gold.

This year’s accomplishments continue an impressive trend for the Elite Competition Team on the world stage.  In each of the last 3 years, the number of Gold Medals has increased from 1 in 2005, to 5 in 2006, to 8 at this year’s Championships.  Sensei Renfrow and the team were given a special award by the tournament hosts for their contributions and volunteer efforts to  facilitate the running of the championships.

^{FSKA IX ANNUAL SHOTOKAN KARATE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS}

^{Zeke Boarman
World Champion Advanced Men’s 18 - 19 Kata
Silver Medal Advanced Men’s 18 - 19 Kumite}

^{Stacey Hatfield
World Champion Intermediate Women’s Kata
World Champion Intermediate Women’s Kumite}

^{Destin Hudson
Silver Medal Black Belt Men’s Cadet 22 - 23 Kumite}

^{Craig Morris
4th Place Black Belt Men’s 30 & over Kumite}

^{David Newton
4th Place Black Belt Men’s Cadet 20 – 21 Kata
4th Place Black Belt Men’s Cadet 20 – 21 Kumite}

^{Claire Ottman
World Champion Advanced Girl’s 10 - 12 Kata
Bronze Medal Advanced Girl’s 10 – 12 Kumite}

^{DJ Ottman
Bronze Medal Advanced Boy’s 14 - 15 Kata}

^{Dwight Ottman
World Champion Advanced Men’s Super Heavyweight 40 - 49 Kumite}

^{Zac Ottman
4th Place Advanced Boy’s 12 - 13 Kata}

^{Sensei Allen Renfrow
World Champion Black Belt Men’s 45 - 49 Kata
Bronze Medal Black Belt Men’s 45 - 49 Kumite}

^{Madison Taylor
World Champion Advanced Girl’s 8 – 9 Kata
Silver Medal Advanced Girl’s 8 – 9 Kumite}

^{Tony Taylor
Bronze Medal Intermediate Men’s 30 – 35 Kata
Bronze Medal Intermediate Men’s 30 – 35 Kumite}

^{Jamie Terry
World Champion Black Belt Women’s Cadet 18 – 19 Kumite
Bronze Medal Black Belt Women’s Cadet 18 – 19 Kata}