St. Laurent gets its karate on

Nhat-Thi Nguyen and Carole Haddad were amongst the athletes who lead the Quebec team to victory at this year’s National Championship, which took place in Richmond, British-Columbia between July 9 and 14.

Nhat-Thi’s record was perfect through the competition as he received the gold medal in the Junior Men (18-20) category. It was the third time the 19 years old participated in this important event. “The team was really good and we had a lot of fun. We even won the sportsmanship award,” he said.

After a four years absence from National Karate Association (NKA) competition, Carole Haddad was able to capture the silver medal in the Women Kumite -60 kg category. “The calibre has improved a lot. I’m disappointed I lost in the finals but I’m still happy with my performance,” she mentioned.

With their victories, both athletes are now part of the 2007-08 National team and they will compete in a few major tournaments in the coming months. They will also remain active at Club Kio. “I’ve been there for more than 20 years and we have a lot of fun together,” said Carole.

With 185 members, Club Kio is one of the most important karate clubs in the province. “We started 40 years ago and we produced a lot of great athletes. Now we have a lot of younger members like Nhat-Thi that are part of the next generation,” said Club Kio president Henri Pelletier.

Nhat-Thi has been developing his skills at Club Kio since he was 11 and he’s also been teaching the future champions for a few years. “It’s a lot of fun, especially for the young ones. I think it’s a big plus for St. Laurent,” added Mr. Pelletier.