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Nottingham Judo bagged
an impressive medal haul on their self-funded trip to the Judo
Tori International tournament that was held in Jodoigne,
Belgium on Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 April.
The team, who returned
back to England on Monday, took a squad of 19 fighters to the
two-day event which attracted over 1000 competitors from across
Europe and returned with a staggering eight gold medals, three
silver and two bronze.
The trip saw the competitors,
coaches and supporters leave Nottingham at 6.00am on Friday 22
April for the 9 hour trip to the event venue, relaxing in the
evening preparing for the tournament that got underway on the
Saturday.
The Saturday saw nine of
the squad in action as the u15, u17, u20/20+ categories got underway.
In the under 15’s Kyra-Mae
Leighton secured a silver medal in the u48kg category after winning
through to the final then only losing to the eventual gold medallist.
Oliver Morrison was in the u50kg category and fought well against
some strong competition but did not qualify for a medal position.
The u17’s category saw
Alexandra Baker secure a gold medal in the girls +78kg and Jack
Hodgson a silver in the boys +90kg. Ashton Butterfield boys u50kg
and Jack Dreher boys u60kg like Oliver before them fought some
great contest but did not make a medal place.
The final category of the
day, men u20/20+, would see the squads final three players of that day take to the
mat, Paul Newton u66kg and William Humphreys and Arunas Beliukevicius
in the u73kg. The three lads all aged under 19 put up some great
battles against the majority of older and more experienced players
and fought exceptionally well. Unfortunately they did not qualify
for medal places but they put up a great fight.
The Sunday saw the Notts squad's remaining
10 competitors in action, in the u11’s and u13’s categories. All
of the players were pooled together in groups of four by weight
therefore each would have a minimum of 3 contests.
Up first was the u11’s,
Charlie Young was the first Notts medallist of the day securing
three wins and a gold medal in his group. Next Ethan Ward followed
Charlie’s success with another three wins and another gold medal.
Brandon Allsebrook lost his first two contests receiving an injury
in the second one, however he still fought his third contest and
won gaining him a bronze medal. The last Notts fighter in this
group was Jack Hopewell, who, like Charlie and Ethan before him,
stormed to take three wins and secure another gold medal for the
high-flying squad.
In the u13’s Jamie Spencer-Pickup
set the bar as he won all three contests and took the first Notts
gold in this category which was followed by Marija Beliukevicius
who also won all her contests to add another gold to the tally.
Jessica Bayley won all but one of her contests adding a silver
medal to the haul, followed by William Penfold and Dylan Hodgson
who both saw off all of their opposition winning all their respective
contests and securing another two gold medals. The final Notts
player to take to the mat was James Wall and even though he won
two out of his three contests he received a bronze medal as two
players had the same amount of wins and then the medal positions
were decided on points accumulated during each contest.
This fantastic international
medal haul follows Nottingham’s recent success at the Samurai
Minimon Team Championships in Kidderminster on Sunday 10 April
where their teams came away with another hugely impressive medal-haul
of two team golds, one bronze and fifth-place.
“The standard of judo throughout
the weekend was exceptional and this was a tough competition
for all of our squad”, said county coach Jason Dutton.
“The squad fought extremely
well and had to adjust their contest strategy throughout, listening
and implementing the tactics provided by the coaching team”
“It was a long weekend
for all the coaches, players and supporters however they all showed
great team spirit, getting up early both days even if they were
not competing and supporting their team mates throughout the day.
The support from the players and their parents was second to none
and this can be attributed to our success.”
“We are definitely improving
as a County squad as our results have shown and to progress further
we need to continue providing the opportunity for our squads to
attend these types of events, however our County funds are limited
and we cannot expect our members to continually self fund their
trips. It would be great if we could just find some sponsorship
to help towards the individuals costs.”
Nottingham Judo is currently
looking for sponsors who could also help towards the costs of
such trips and other events throughout the UK. If you are interested
in sponsoring the local judo talent please contact Paul Keeton
on 0700 349 6051 or by email at enquiries@nottsjudo.org.uk.
If you are interested in
taking up judo check out the list of clubs that form the Nottinghamshire
Judo Squad at http://www.nottsjudo.org.uk
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