Sparring partners … Samurai Karate students Thomas Olsen and Jessica Saveska. 51736
ALL students from the Samurai Karate Academy in Sunshine produced medal-winning performances at the national titles recently.
Thomas Olsen won gold in his debut in the under 21 division. He defeated NSW’s Michael Pern in the final.
Olsen then fought for Victoria in the men’s 61-67kg division, which had four of the top five fighters in Australia competing in that weight class. Olsen defeated former Australian representative Tod Usher in the first round. Usher made quick work of Olsen earlier this year in the Australian open, but Olsen scored a come-from-behind win at the nationals.
Olsen narrowly lost to SA’s Shannon Barton in the second round. Olsen was 2-1 up with 16 second to go, but due to a poor decision the score went to 2-2, then Barton took the fight. Olsen went into repechage and beat Ben Candy 8-0 to claim third place.
Olsen was the anchor man in the five-man team event, which saw Victoria break a seven-year drought to win gold. This was the premier and final event of the tournament.
Ellen Hunt also performed well. She came third in her weight division, but also fought in the junior open division and just missed out on advancing to the final
Jessica Saveska, 14, didn’t perform at her best, possibly because she peaked at the World Youth Cup in Greece where she placed fourth in the Kumite discipline and fifth in Kata.
She improved the next day to win her fights in the team event bringing home gold for Victoria.
Vincent Nguyen’s debut in a nationals event was a gutsy effort, getting bronze in the under 21s and taking it to the 67-75kg men’s division. He lost his first fight against a competitor almost 30cm taller by one point.
Jai Hunt had a solid performance taking third at his second nationals.
