Brother and sister Rohan (18) and Morgan (16) Potter took home the senior men’s kumite and senior women’s kumite titles respectively at the recent Counties Shotokan Karate national tournament in Auckland.
The tournament was hosted by Counties Shotokan Karate, one of the biggest associations of Dojos in New Zealand, on April 1.
The pair, along with their father and coach, Bruce, also came second in the group kata (display of movement and forms) which capped off an excellent tournament for the Alexandra Dojo, which only has 17 members.
Rohan was pleased with the win in his first tournament back since injuring his knee last year.
He said it had been a long road back to the fighting ring after three months on crutches and a further five months in rehabilitation.
Rohan said the level of support from the crowd was great as he beat more fancied fighters on his road to the final.
"It was quite cool. People saw my first couple of fights, and by the time of the final, everyone was cheering me on.
"I’m pretty chuffed. I wasn’t expecting [to win]."
Morgan was also pleased with her win as she backed up her third place in the World Karate Championships in Toronto last year.
It was her second senior women’s kumite title at the tournament, after winning it in 2015 and coming second place last year.
She put her success down to fighting her brother and father, which she said prepared her for bigger and faster opponents.
The siblings’ father and coach, Bruce, said he could not be happier with their performances.
"To come from Alexandra and take out the two premier events was pretty amazing.
"To have one of them come away with a win is great, but to have both of them [win], I couldn’t have asked for more," he said.
