LAVAL Que.—British Columbia karate athletes combined to win 34 medals, including 12 gold on the opening day of kata and kumite competitions at the 2023 National Championships in Laval, Que. on Friday.

Ontario’s 13-year-old Cadence Truong successfully defended her national title in the women’s kata individual female youth division to claim one of nine gold medals for Canada’s largest province, putting them in second place overall with a total of 14 medals.

“Last year was my first Nationals and I was really nervous. Since winning last year, I was scared I wouldn’t be able to achieve the same but I’m glad I trained really hard and was able to win again because the competition was so strong,” said the Markham, Ont. resident who has competed internationally. “The crowd is quite crazy. It feels so good competing with all of my teammates cheering me on. It’s so exciting.”

Quebec athletes sit third after the opening stint of the three-day karate festival with seven gold and a 27-medal haul.

Alberta athletes locked up two medals of each colour to sit in fourth place. Calgary’s Yuki McNeil won his third national title, taking top spot in the kata individual male u21 division.

“I’ve been training hard for this. National Championships have been a goal in my mind for a long time and to come here and be able to perform just feels awesome,” said the 19-year-old, who has been competing at Nationals since 2017. “It’s been phenomenal here. I love the atmosphere and Quebec has been so awesome welcoming us all. I am just so happy I was able to put all of my training onto the mat.”

Medal Count after Day 1

Rank    Province                 Gold     Silver    Bronze              Total

1          British Columbia           12              9                 13                     34
2          Ontario                            9                3                  2                      14
3          Quebec                            7               10                10                     27
4          Alberta                            2                2                   2                      6
5          New Brunswick             0                0                  2                       2
6          Nova Scotia                    0                0                  1                        1

Complete List of Day 1 Medallists

Kata Individual Female Youth (Ages 12-13)

1.Cadence Truong (Ontario)
2.Talya Rabiner (British Columbia)
3.Coco Nohara (British Columbia)
4.Athenna Verzosa (British Columbia)

Kata Individual Male Youth (Ages 12-13)

1.Ethan Choi (British Columbia)
2.Ewan Booth (British Columbia)
3.Jayden Boulianne (Quebec)
4.Charles-David Labrie (Quebec)

Kata Individual Female Cadet (Ages 14-15)

1.Joanne Tran (Ontario)
2. Amanda Lee (British Columbia)
3.Ayaka Gushiken (British Columbia)
4.McKayla Gauthier (Quebec)

Kata Individual Male Cadet (Ages 14-15)

1.Mathieu Chue (Ontario)
2.Quinton Damian (Ontario)
3.Derrick Cruz (British Columbia)
4.Vuk Bilcar (Quebec)

Kata Individual Female U21 (Ages 18-20)

1.Amelie Del Rosario (British Columbia)
2.Roxanne Larose-Carignan (Quebec)
3.Oonah Gamboa (British Columbia)
4.Liesel Munar (Ontario)

Kata Individual Male U21 (18-20)

1.Yuki McNeil (Alberta)
2.Elric Beaudoin (Quebec)
3.Ulysse Desmarais (Quebec)
4.Youri P.-Lavoie (Quebec)

Kata Team Female – Cadet/Junior

1.Karate Ontario
2.Team British Columbia

Kata Team Male – Cadet/Junior

1.Karate Quebec
2.Team Alberta
3.Team British Columbia
4.Karate New Brunswick

Kumite Individual Female Cadet -47kg
1.Samantha Lam (British Columbia)
2.Alondra Colinares (British Columbia)
3.Avneet Matharu (British Columbia)
4.Malia Khodarahmi (British Columbia)

Kumite Individual Male Cadet -52kg
1.Abderahmane Guemmat (Quebec)
2.Raed Abdallah (Quebec)
3.Fedi Ferjani (Quebec)
4.Ben Bishop (Ontario)

Kumite Individual Female Cadet -54kg

1.Lylan Bricteux (Quebec)
2.Emmi German (Nova Scotia)
3.Emily Chan (British Columbia)
4.Caitlin Kwan (Ontario)

 Kumite Individual Female Cadet -61kg

1.Aya Rahmani (Quebec)
2.McKayla Gauthier (Quebec)
3.Donya Movaffagh (Alberta)
4.Jennat Erroussi (Quebec)

Kumite Individual Female Cadet +61kg

1.Mariana Guerrero (Ontario)
2.Indiana Carlyle-Byford (Alberta)
3.Abby Bartlett (New Brunswick)
4.Grace Noseworthy (Newfoundland)

Kumite Individual Male Cadet -63kg

1.Jeremy Tomusange (Alberta)
2.Raphael St-Onge (Quebec)
3.Kaden Shen (Nova Scotia)
4.Reyansh Jha (Ontario)

Kumite Individual Male Cadet -70kg

1.Aryan Kohi (Ontario)
2.Kaileb McCaughey (Ontario)
3.Aidan Pareja (British Columbia)
4.Nathan-Xavier Tiakoh (Quebec)

Kumite Individual Male Youth -40kg

1.Chase Hobson (British Columbia)
2.Jacob Gosselin (Quebec)
3.Yazid Majdi (Quebec)
4.Jonah Mossavat (Ontario)

Kumite Individual Female Youth -42kg

1.Coco Nohara (British Columbia)
2.Annika Nikolaisen (British Columbia)
3.Kaur Braich Diljot (British Columbia)
4.Alyssa Chan (Ontario)

Kumite Individual Male Youth -45kg

1.Logan Robertson (Ontario)
2.John Zakhour (Quebec)
3.Manaf Mokdad (Quebec)
4.Adam Centeno Chavez (Ontario)

Kumite Individual Female Youth -47kg

1.Giselle Derousie (Ontario)
2.Alice Beaudet (Quebec)
3.Mathuli Rathnayake (Alberta)
4.Gwyneth Sullivan (Ontario)

Kumite Individual Female Youth -52kg
1.Talya Rabiner (British Columbia)
2.Lyra Child-Gignoux (Quebec)
3.Kaleigh Yang (British Columbia)
4.Léanne Saumure (Quebec)

Kumite Individual Male Youth -50kg

1.Ertang Hu Timothy (British Columbia)
2.Konnor Buchanan (British Columbia)
3.Lucas Yu (British Columbia)
4.Aiden Danesh (British Columbia)

Kumite Individual Female Youth +52kg

1.Mikella Bergeron (Quebec)
2.Harsimrit Narwal (British Columbia)
3.Leia Katselson (Ontario)
4.Ava Yule (British Columbia)

Kumite Individual Male Youth -50kg

1.Cillian Hollybow (British Columbia)
2.Matvei Chernyshev (Ontario)
3.Quinn Lester-Coe (British Columbia)
4.Naethan Prabu Jithu (Ontario)

Kumite Individual Male Youth +55kg
1.Angad Pandher (Ontario)
2.Haumi Tarighatbin (British Columbia)
3.Nathan Turgeon-Tremblay (Quebec)
4.Ibrahim Mabrouk (Quebec)

Day 1 Complete Results: https://www.sportdata.org/karate/set-online/popup_main.php?popup_action=results&vernr=7273&active_menu=calendar 

The largest National Championships ever showcases more than 600 of the top karatekas from across
Canada during three days of kata and kumite competition that includes 797 entries at at Place Bell in Laval, Que.

Tickets:
Single day tickets are available for $25. A multi-day event past is $45. Tickets for the event can be purchased here: Children under 9 receive complimentary entry to the event.

Live Streaming:
Each day of competition, July 7-9, will be streamed live at: https://www.youtube.com/KarateCanada

More information on the 2023 National Karate Championships can be found here. This event is financially supported by the Government of Canada, Laval Sportcité, and Gouvernement du Québec.

For more information on Karate Canada, please visit us at www.karatecanada.org.