The 8 martial artists who make up the Islington Karate Team set off via coach from the Sobell Centre on Sunday, 7th June.  These eight young people had been training for the event for the past few months and most for up to 3 times a week.  They are all members of the famous Sobell Karate Club, which operates from Sobell Leisure Centre on Tuesdays, Fridays, Sundays and now on Thursdays too.

This year Islington was rewarded with some astounding results, bringing home 5 medals and achieving a massive 27 points for the Borough!

• 17-year-old Ali Belhocine, who fought very skilfully, came 2nd in the Kumite 60 to 65kg category and was even congratulated by his opponent’s coach.  What a brilliant way to end his London Youth Games years!
  
• Fellow fighters, Ufuk Gencyigit and Djamel Amirouche both got 3rd place in their respective categories and were delighted with their results.
  
• Ben Tyler, who took part in both Kumite and Kata came 3rd in the boys’ Junior Kata categoryand was equally thrilled with his achievement.
  
• Nur Ceylan, our only girl competing this year, came 3rd in the girls’ Junior Kata category.  Her achievement was even more appreciated as it was her very first time at the London Youth Games.
  
• Rory Roberts, a new comer to the world of competition, is already proving to be a promising competitor.  John Ferando and Mounder Sotehi were also new to the London Youth Games and trained very hard for the event.  They are all looking forward to continuing with their training ready for 2010.
  

Team Coach, Sensei Ahcene Moussaoui – Sobell Karate Club Chief Instructor and Jude Rosset were delighted with this year’s amazing results, which have been the most positive in the last few years.  They were both very proud of all their competitors and are already planning to take part and represent Islington next year.