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A five-strong British
visually impaired team is headed out to Heidelberg, Germany on
Friday ahead of their first major event of 2011, the VI German
Open, taking place on the 16th January.
After a very successful
2010, with Ben Quilter taking the World title, plus other notable
medals from the team at the World Championships, Paralympic Programme
Manager Dave Sanders is looking for consistency.
“We are looking for
a positive start to the year in Germany and follow on from the
most successful GB Paralympic year to date. 2011 is an important
year for us with the World Games and a home European Championships.
We want the British Team to dominate these events and continue
to put our markers down for the Games next year,” he said.
“All players have continued
with their training over Christmas and not had too much of a break
and remained focused on Germany and of course the World Games
in April,” added Sanders.
Ben Quilter will be
looking to dominate the -60kg category once again as he returns
to defend his title after winning gold in Germany last year.
Making her debut at
the event and competing in the +70kg weight category is Lesley
Reid. This is the first time GB has fielded a player in this weight
category, which coincides with the Paralympic weight division.
The Royston outfit has
undergone a lot of change since her return to competitive judo
early last year, losing two stone in weight and making her mark
on the World stage with a bronze medal at the 2010 World Championships.
2010 VI German Open
silver medallist Joe Ingram will compete once again in the -100kg.
Ingram had a two year gap from the sport and returned in 2009
to scoop a silver medal at the European Championships. Since then,
he has continued to put in top performances, earning a silver
medal at the 2010 World Championships, a highlight of his career.
2009 European bronze
medallist Darren Harris has been selected to compete in the -66kg
weight category. The Paralympian’s profile boasts five medals
at the German Open, two of them Gold, and will be one to watch
as Britain takes on elite judoka from across the world.
The youngest member
in the team, Daniel Powell, will contest the -81kg category, a
move up from the -73kg weight category he fought in last year
at the World Youth Games.
Notably absent from
the line-up is 2008 Paralympic bronze medallist Sam Ingram. Sam
underwent surgery on his knee and is now fully focused on his
rehabilitation at Judo Scotland’s National Training Centre in
Ratho, Edinburgh, a recognised British Judo Performance Centre.
Also forced to withdraw
due to a recent injury is Marc Powell, who took 5th place in the
event last year.
A training camp from
the 16th -18th will follow the competition, where the Brits will
get a chance to train with judoka from other countries and catch
up with some of the internationals that visited the BJPI at the
first ever International VI Training Camp held in Britain last
November.
The IBSA VI European
Championships will be the biggest event this year for the sqaud
and will take place from 17th-20th November 2011 at K2 Crawley.
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