Cool story about some cool sisters who root for each other…most of the time.
BY TRENT HILE
HIGH-FLYING karate sisters Bianca and Alexandra Gallo have taken the meaning of a sibling rivalry to a whole new level. Both own a swag of state, national, and international medals; both are amongst the top handful of junior fighters in the world; and both hail from Richmond’s Hawkesbury Martial Arts dojo.
But to be the best, it’s now likely one will have to beat the other.
15-year-old Alexandra has stepped up to the same 53kg division as 17-year-old Bianca, meaning for the first time, each’s biggest rival in competition lives under the very same roof. The pair first locked horns competitively at the Sydney International Karate Championships at Liverpool’s Whitlam Centre last weekend.
In the final of the Kumite (sparring) Female Junior 48-59kg merged division, Alexandra emerged with bragging rights, winning a nail-biting bout 1-0. Not to be outdone by her younger sister, Bianca squared the wager with a 1-0 win over Alexandra to take the gold medal in the final of the Kumite Female Junior Open division. While most parents would view this most unusual situation as an impending World War III, the girls say they enjoy squaring-off on the mat.
“When we fought we couldn’t help but laugh,” Bianca said. “One minute we were cheering each other from the sidelines, the next we realise we’re facing each other in the final.”
“We know exactly what each other is going to do so we have to try and trick each other,” Alexandra said. “If you are fighting another girl they always have something different – it’s not that we don’t have something different, we just always know what the other one is going to throw.
Speaking with the Gazette last week, the Gallo’s said their preparation remains the same whether facing each other or another opponent. That was until HMA Sensei Daniel Spice cheekily interjected with, “Bianca is scared of Alexandra,” which was of course vehemently denied by the senior of the two.
“It’s worse for me to lose to Alexandra than it is for her to lose to me, because it’s like, well your big sister beat you,” Bianca said.
“When people found out last weekend [that we were sisters] everyone was teasing me with ‘oh so your little sister beat you’.
“It’s like losing to myself, she fights like me anyway,” Bianca laughed.
Alexandra said winning meant more than just gaining one over her beloved big sister.
“Obviously Bianca is my biggest competition so it’s always good beating her,” Alexandra said. “But I felt proud to beat her because it is so hard for us to get a point on each other, so to actually win it was a great achievement.”
The girls are both working towards gaining a spot in the Australian squad for the World Karate Federation Junior and Cadet World Championships in Malaysia at the end of the year, which Spice describes as “the Olympics of karate.” Though with only one spot on offer for each weight division, Alexandra (being the taller of the pair) may look to move up to the 59kg division. Spice has faced a similar stalemate with fellow sibling teammates Aaron and Braden McMahon, with 17-year-old Aaron moving to the +76kg division to avoid clashing with 15-year-old Braden in the 61-68kg. According to Spice, all four are realistic chances of gaining the selectors’ vote.
“Our goal in the next few years is to get to the senior world titles,” Alexandra said. “Hopefully there we can knock out some of the big guns.”
Or Click a Logo to Order from your favorite bookseller:
