Miyawaki, Masuike bag 2 gold medals in Karate tourney

Local bet Rintaro Miyawaki and visiting Keisuke Masuike became double gold medalists in the recently concluded Karatedo tournament at the dojo on the second floor of Himawari restaurant in Garapan.

Rintaro Miyawaki, right, blocks a kick by Dev Bachani in their gold medal match in kumite’s Under-10 division. (Jon Perez)

Miyawaki bested five other karatekas to rule the kata event for brown and green belts in the tournament organized by the Northern Mariana Islands Karate-do Federation under sensei Eiichi Ishiguro.

Kata is a sequence of movements that represent various offensive and defensive postures with performers given points based on stance and movement.

Miyawaki tallied 19.50 points to beat Sami Nimura (19.40), who settled for the bronze. Natsuki Nagata placed third with 19.20 points.

Ayaka Sato (19.15), Lennosuke Suzuki (19.10), and Jinnosuke Suzuki (18.90) were the other participants in the brown and green belts.

Masuike, part of four visiting karatekas, was the top black-belter with 23.30 points followed by Shunei Ishiguro’s 23.05 and Nana Sakurai’s 23.00 for the silver and bronze respectively.

Yasunoshin Ishiguro of Japan (22.90), Ruel Palma (22.70), Kei Andre (22.40), and Victoria Chentsova (22.05) were the other kata participants in the black belt.

Kouki Watanabe topped the beginners’ class with 17.00 points, while Japan’s Shun Chiga (16.90) and Tanisha Bachani (16.70) came in second and third.

Kaishei Nagata (16.50), Kengo Sato (16.30), Dev Bachani (16.30), and Takeru Jim (16.10) finished fourth to seventh places.

Michael Miller won the gold in the Kinder event with 17.45 points, while Nagi Takahashi (17.30), and Jumpei Shoda (17.00) settled for the silver and bronze medals.

Taiga Scoggins (16.75), Sally Oryoji (16.50), and Sho Chiga of Japan (16.50) came in fourth to sixth places.

Miyawaki and Masuike then both added the kumite and sparring gold medals after winning their respective age divisions.

Miyawaki topped the Under-10 division beating Dev Bachani in the finals, while Masuike bested compatriot Yasunoshin Ishiguro in the U12 age group.

Chiga and Jinnosuke Suzuki finished third and fourth in the U10, while Lennosuke Suzuki placed third in the U12.

Nagata, who placed fourth in the beginner’s kata, bounced back in the U8 kumite after defeating Kouki Watanabe for the gold. Kengo Sato and Takeru Jin came in third and fourth.

Tanisha Bachani won the girls’ gold beating Ayaka Sato in the finals. Natsuki Nagata and Sami Nimura settled for third and fourth, while Kai Andre topped the U16 division relegating Nana Sakurai for the silver and Chentsova the bronze.

Shunei Ishiguro won his match up with Ruel Palma in the adults division.