KUGB National Youth Championships 5th July 2008
The LKA had a very succussful day at the KUGB National youth Championships held at Chesterfield. A total of 4 Gold medals were taken, along with 3 silver and 2 Bronze.
Jordon Probst had the most success, narrowly missing out on being Grand Champion in the Boys events. He won the Boys Kumite 5'-5'5'', looking very dominant and in control of his matches throughout. He also took 2nd place in the Boys Black Belt Kata event with a great display of Kanku Sho
Natasha Balyckyi defended the Female Kumite category that she won at last years competition, her fast punching proving too much for her opponents. It was almost an all-LKA final in this event, save for the fact that Emma Nunn's superb 'over the top' head punch in the semi final earned her a disqualification rather than the hoped-for Ippon.
Ryan Tucker was Champion at this event last year in the 16-17 Years Male Kumite and this year he won again, having moved up an event to the 18-20 Years category. Once again Ryan's superb timing punches were the vital factor in an exciting final against Jon McGorian from Halewood. David Wright also took joint 3rd in this event and showed his all-round versatility by taking 2nd place in the Male Kata too.
Finally James Brown performed extremely well to win the Boys Kumite Under 5' event, showing great versatility with both punches and kicks to take his first major title.
| Male Kumite 18-20 Years | 1st | Ryan Tucker |
| Female Kumite | 1st | Natasha Balyckyi |
| Boys Kumite 5'-5'5'' | 1st | Jordon Probst |
| Boys Kumite Under 5' | 1st | James Brown |
| Male Kata | 2nd | David Wright |
| Boys Dan Grade Kata | 2nd | Jordon Probst |
| Boys Kata 9th-1st Kyu | 2nd | Woody Nunn |
| Male Kumite | 3rd | David Wright |
| Female Kumite | 3rd | Emma Nunn |
The full list of 35 competitors was:
David Wright, Zoe Starr, Natasha Balyckyi, Jordon Probst, Ryan Tucker, Mel Finlay, Joe Finlay, Andrew Lister, Alex Farrell, Stephen Brown, James Brown, Grant Bain, Sophie Pennington, Holly Dickinson, Emma Nunn, Mark Hardy, Josie Fishkin, Ronan Cain, Jed Dickinson, Ben Outhwaite, Alistair Anderson, Stuart Batt, Sam Buck, Marcus Fenlon, Jamie Horwell, Callum Mackintosh, Jack Mitchell, Sam Mitchell, Tom Mitchell, Woody Nunn, Hayden Steele, Abi Chapman, Joseph Kilvington, Ellie Hardman amp; Michael Hardy.