Friday is fight night in Saanich as co-promoters Stan Petered (Peterec’s Martial Arts) and Jason Heit (Island MMA) are hosting a Warriors Canada vs. Japan kickboxing card in the field house of Pearkes Recreation Centre.
A trio of local fighters form “Team Canada” and will co-headline the event against visiting “Team Japan” fighters, all from Okanawa.
Victoria’s Tim ‘Packman’ Packer will face Kai Tsuchiya, Greg Lamothe will face Taiko Urano and Saanich’s own Suraj Bangarh will fight Masa Satou.
The winner of Bangarh vs. Satou will take home the ISKA Amateur Superlightweight world title belt.
Another nine matches featuring local and mainland fighters will precede the Canada vs. Japan fights.
Tickets are available at the gate. Doors open at 6 p.m. and fights start at 7 p.m.
Gorging Dragons win gold at worlds
The Gorging Dragons senior C women’s team recently returned from Australia with a pair of gold medals around their necks.
They were one of four local dragon boat teams competing at the International Dragon Boat Federation’s Club Crew World Championships in Adelaide, March 30 to April 7.
All four teams train out of the Vancouver Island Paddling Club and are made up of the Gorging Dragons senior B (over 50) women, senior C (over 60) women, senior C mixed and senior C open teams.
The senior C women won gold in their first race, the 2,000-metre event, and then bronze in the 500m. The senior C open team won gold in the 500m and silver in the 2,000m event. The senior C mixed team also won silver in the 500m.
Paddlers for each team come from Saanich and Greater Victoria, as well as across the Island, while the bulk of the training is done on the Gorge Waterway.
Saanich gymnasts medal at provincials
Saanich’s Kiana Phieffer is the B.C. champion for her category after she won first all around in the Junior Olympic 7 at the 2016 Artistic Gymnastics B.C. Championships in Langley last weekend.
Phieffer also won individual medals of silver on the floor and bronze on the beam.
Phieffer, 16, trains with Falcon Gymnastics, which sent 13 athletes to the provincials.
Falcon’s Jordan Reilly (JO6 2002) took third all around, with silver in the floor and bars events, and a bronze on vault. Karley Telford (JO6 2004) won silver all-around, with gold on bars and silver on beam. Georgina Love took fifth all-around in that same category and Ava Stewart won silver on floor. Georgia Schmidt finished a respectable 13th all-around and Jaidyn Olynyk (JO7 2005) won bronze on the vault.
Emily Schmidt won a gold medal on the beam. Saanich’s Inez Verdun took bronze on the vault. Mia Butcher and Léonie Solomons (both JO7 – 2002) placed ninth and 10th all-around in an field of 19. Solomons won silver on the bars.
Racer takes Western lead in U.S. Tour
Saanich driver Bill Okell had one of his better paydays on the Sports Car Club of America’s U.S. Majors Tour last week as he took two second place finishes and now sits first in the Western Conference series standings.
Okell finished second in races No. 5 and 6, driving the San Francisco-based Huffaker Engineering’s team’s Austin Healey MKIII at Thunderhill Raceway Park near Sacramento, Calif.
It’s Okell’s best ranking after three years of competition in the U.S. Majors Tour. Next up is Buttonwillow Raceway, near Bakersfield, Calif.
West Shore driving ace Josh Reaume failed to make the field in last weekend’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Texas Motor Speedway, near Fort Worth, Tex. Reaume has signed on to a new team, the family-run Seig Motorsports, where he will be preparing race cars and eventually racing in about two months.
