Lillian Zavala 9k and Ogam Shakti 15k led the top division of the Mexican Youth Go Championships, held Feb. 11 in Mexico City. 44 kids attended the event, which was limited to those under the age of 12. “We had the support of some of the pioneer go players in Mexico,” reports Mexican Youth Coordinator Siddhartha Avila. “Dr. Marcos Arámbula helped organize, and Dr. Ricardo Quintero was the referee, both were active in the 80’s, when the game was almost unknown in Mexico. The kids had a great time at Ekoji Buddhist Temple where the tournament took place, a special thanks goes to Rev. Todaka and the Temple’s staff for kindly hosting the event. Before the tournament we saw kendokas training at their dojo, with them, the garden, the altar, the statues, tatami rooms, go boards, bowls and stones, the atmosphere took us for a moment on a trip to ancient Japan where Igo has been practiced for so long. Santiago Dimayuga, a 6 year old child with autism played in Section C, reaching 4th place. He has been playing for just a couple months, with the support of his Teacher Ana María who taught him the basics; this is a great achievement, he seems to like go very much. This proves once again the inclusive nature of go, and how we can break barriers through its practice. This experience broadened our vision about teaching, and there are talks about making a deeper approach in the field of go and autism. In Section A there was a tie between Lilian Zavala 9k and Ogam Shakti 15k each with 4-0 records, the final will be played soon, Vicente A. Cortez 14k came in third place. Omar Zavala 13k won Section B, followed by Hans Torres 20k and Fernando López 20k. Section C was topped by Leonardo Pineda 24k, second place went to E. Amélie Zdeinert 24k and third place to Ximena Tejada 25k. We would like to thank all the teachers, parents and volunteers for their support in making this event possible, as well as the American Go Association for their prize sponsorship – the winners had nice sets of Yunzi stones as prizes,” writes Avila. Full Results are here, a photo gallery is here. -Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor. Photo and report by Siddhartha Avila.American Go E-Journal
Zavala, Shakti, Top Mexican Youth Go Championships
Monday February 27, 2012
Lillian Zavala 9k and Ogam Shakti 15k led the top division of the Mexican Youth Go Championships, held Feb. 11 in Mexico City. 44 kids attended the event, which was limited to those under the age of 12. “We had the support of some of the pioneer go players in Mexico,” reports Mexican Youth Coordinator Siddhartha Avila. “Dr. Marcos Arámbula helped organize, and Dr. Ricardo Quintero was the referee, both were active in the 80’s, when the game was almost unknown in Mexico. The kids had a great time at Ekoji Buddhist Temple where the tournament took place, a special thanks goes to Rev. Todaka and the Temple’s staff for kindly hosting the event. Before the tournament we saw kendokas training at their dojo, with them, the garden, the altar, the statues, tatami rooms, go boards, bowls and stones, the atmosphere took us for a moment on a trip to ancient Japan where Igo has been practiced for so long. Santiago Dimayuga, a 6 year old child with autism played in Section C, reaching 4th place. He has been playing for just a couple months, with the support of his Teacher Ana María who taught him the basics; this is a great achievement, he seems to like go very much. This proves once again the inclusive nature of go, and how we can break barriers through its practice. This experience broadened our vision about teaching, and there are talks about making a deeper approach in the field of go and autism. In Section A there was a tie between Lilian Zavala 9k and Ogam Shakti 15k each with 4-0 records, the final will be played soon, Vicente A. Cortez 14k came in third place. Omar Zavala 13k won Section B, followed by Hans Torres 20k and Fernando López 20k. Section C was topped by Leonardo Pineda 24k, second place went to E. Amélie Zdeinert 24k and third place to Ximena Tejada 25k. We would like to thank all the teachers, parents and volunteers for their support in making this event possible, as well as the American Go Association for their prize sponsorship – the winners had nice sets of Yunzi stones as prizes,” writes Avila. Full Results are here, a photo gallery is here. -Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor. Photo and report by Siddhartha Avila.