Whangārei karate trio bag a haul of medals in Sydney

Kyle MacLean (left) and Quin White show off their medals at the NSW Open Karate Championships.

Their first outing on the international stage paid rich dividends that should lay an ideal springboard for more medals in karate for Whangārei trio Kyle MacLean, Quin White and Winston Lee.

After a week of training, going to fun parks, and travelling around Sydney sightseeing, the three boys competed in the New South Wales Karate Open Championships at the Whitlam Centre in Liverpool recently and bagged three gold and two silver medals.

It was their first time competing overseas and the second time they had competed at a tournament outside of their Miyagi Kan Karate Club in Whangārei.

They were accompanied by their instructor Craig Nordstrand and family members.

Nordstrand said when his group arrived at the venue, people were already warming up with four mats for the competition.

First up was Quin White, who was amped up to win gold. Previously he had never won gold, just runners-up medals, so his determination was huge.

He won all his rounds in the 10-11 year boys’ kata, which is going through the motions rather than combat.

Kyle MacLean (left) with his much bigger opponent in the final for kumite, flanked by Craig Nordstrand.

To get to the final, Nordstrand said there were five judges in each corner who judged the same way his club did with flags.

“Quin got all five flags and won his first gold ever. It was a very exciting time for everyone.”

Next up were Kyle MacLean and Winston Lee in the 12-13 year boys’ kata and both made it to the final, giving the team a New Zealand Miyagi Kan final.

MacLean won gold with three flags and Lee silver with two flags.

Next was the kumite - the combat side of the competition.

White was again first up and won all his rounds to make the final.

“Unfortunately, his opponent was a super kicker and he beat Quin, but the fight went the distance. So Quin won another medal and has come home with gold and silver,” Nordstrand said.

The last event was MacLean and Lee in the 12-13 year open weight kumite.

Craig Nordstrand and Kristina Mah (right) with the Whangārei boys at the NSW Open Karate Championships.

MacLean won his first fight but Lee was unable to repeat the same result and the boy who beat him went on to compete in the finals.

MacLean won the rest of his rounds and faced a much stronger competitor. Nordstrand said when MacLean scored the first point, he had to use all of his skills to keep his opponent’s ferocious attacks at bay. He survived and scored two more points to win gold.

The boys also got to see senior female kumite world champion Kristina Mah in action in the Under-61kg women’s open kumite. With Mah one month off her 40th birthday, she won both of her fights convincingly against much younger opponents.

MacLean returned home with double gold in kata and kumite, Quin with gold in kata and silver in kumite and Lee a silver medal in kata.

MacLean’s dad Mal accompanied him to Sydney and couldn’t be more proud of his achievement.

“His motivation increases every time he competes and be always believes he can do it. He’s a really fit guy who also plays basketball.”

Almost everyone he competed against towered above him and even when a competitor kicked him in the chest, MacLean said his son got up and kept fighting.

He encouraged him to take up karate as the sport gave him good discipline, fitness level, courage and self-belief.

White’s mum Claire also went on the trip and was surprised to see the Whangārei boys do so well.

“I was surprised because Quin hadn’t competed much. I told him it would be a good experience, don’t expect much because he wasn’t quite there yet.”

White picked karate as an after-school activity when he was 5 because he wanted to be Batman.