Jewish duo win golds
The duo have trained together for many years, and recently established a dojo (training school) in Sydney called Miyagi Kan Karate East.
JEWISH athletes Richard Basckin and Yonatan Freund helped Australia come first out of five in the 2023 Oceania Karate Championships in Christchurch on June 30, winning a gold medal each and their first senior Oceania titles.
The duo have trained together for many years, and recently established a dojo (training school) in Sydney called Miyagi Kan Karate East.
Basckin (pictured at the tournament) won the male kumite under-60kg competition, defeating Fiji’s Sandip Pala 3-0 in the final after winning his qualifying bouts 8-0 and 8-2.
He told The AJN the first part of the final was scoreless, “as we were testing each other out, but then I scored one point to get on top and finished strongly”.
Freund won 8-0 and 12-3 in his under-84kg qualifying bouts and clinched gold after edging Max Noble in an all-Aussie final.
The bout finished 0-0, with Freund winning by “hantei” (umpire’s decision).
“He [Noble] is a very good fighter and we know each other well, so I had to just really focus on doing my job, going the distance, and gradually gain the ascendancy,” Freund said.
comments