Morgan Moss karatekas flying high

Numerous members of the Morgan Moss Karate (MMK) dojo competed and excelled in both the Kata and Kumite divisions during the Gauteng Karate Federation’s Elite and Development Championships and trials recently.

At a tournament held at the Orlando Stadium in Soweto, karatekas of Morgan Moss blew their competition away bagging most of the gold medals. This specific tournament was organised by the Gauteng Karate Federation and includes various divisions where karatekas competed to qualify for among others, the Karate South Africa (KSA) National Championship in Cape Town this March.

Also, the Gauteng trials were held recently under strict City of Johannesburg compliance governmental protocol. The tournament saw karatekas enter from four districts in Gauteng. The selected top four elite athletes who competed in the tournament will now go on to represent the federation at the KSA champs.

According to MMK head instructor Morgan Moss, the club won 39 medals – the most in the West Rand. Of those 39 medals, 16 were gold, 18 silver and five bronze. As a region, the West Rand won 18 gold medals further emphasising MMK’s dominance.

Some of their outstanding athletes who won multiple medals in both the Kumite and Kata divisions include Adriaan Marais (two gold medals) and Ricardo van Biljon-Moss (gold in Kumite and silver in Kata). To add to these incredible accomplishments, Morgan said the club will have 31 of its members go on to compete in the elite division of the national championships while another 17 members qualified to compete in the developmental tournament.

Members to compete in the elite division of the KSA National Championships are:

• William Ash (Kumite)
• Luandro Bornman (Kumite)
• Hayley Bothma (Kumite)
• Bronwynn Bronn (Kumite)
• Sarah Bronn (Kumite)
• Samuel Cech (Kumite)
• Sara Cechova (Kata and Kumite)
• Ruben Coetzee (Kumite)
• Bianca Corbellari (Kumite)
• Brendan Engelbrecht (Kumite)
• Dewald Engelbrecht (Kumite)
• Xander Engelbrecht (Kumite)
• Tyrone Gray (Kumite)
• Elaine le Roux (Kumite)
• Keegan le Roux (Kumite)
• Sydney Owen (Kumite)
• Aiden Pansegrouw (Kumite)
• Gavin Pansegrouw (Kumite)
• Brendan Parker (Kata and Kumite)
• Chloé Preston (Kumite)
• Kayne Roode (Kumite)
• Monwabisi Sethi (Kumite)
• Dylan Seyffert (Kumite)
• Bradley Steyn (Kumite)
• Brogan Taylor (Kata and Kumite)
• Slade Taylor (Kata and Kumite)
• Bili Tian (Kumite)
• Anja Underwood (Kumite)
• Ethan Venter (Kumite)
• Connor Vergie (Kumite)
• Zaji Zabane (Kumite)

MMK members to compete in the developmental tournament are: 

• Evelyn Boonzaaier-Hemingway (Kata and Kumite)
• Marco Cilliers (Kata and Kumite)
• Mia Cilliers (Kata)
• Nathan Diedericks (Kumite)
• Hailey Jooste-Coetsee (Kumite)
• Noah Jooste-Coetsee (Kata and Kumite)
• Adriaan Marais (Kata and Kumite)
• Daniella Naude (Kata and Kumite)
• Natalie Nel (Kumite)
• Naomi Nel (Kata and Kumite)
• Joshua Redelinghuys (Kata and Kumite)
• Logan Seyffert (Kumite)
• Busan Skhosana (Kumite)
• Maya Skhosana (Kumite)
• Adrian Underwood (Kumite)
• Ricardo van Biljon-Moss (Kata and Kumite)
• Gutara’She Zabane (Kumite).

With the championships fast approaching, the club hopes to bring home a bag full of medals.