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The British visually impaired
team took four medals, two gold and two silver, at the German
Open, held on Saturday 30th January in Heidelberg, Germany.
2008 Paralympic bronze
medallist Sam Ingram powered through his preliminary fights beating
Zakir Mislimov (AZE), Nahwan Badi (AUT) and Robert Deese (USA),
placing him the semi-final against Beijing Paralympic silver medallist
Tofig Mammadov of Azerbaijan.
Ingram claimed the fight
with an ippon score, setting him up for his final fight against
Germany’s Sebastian Junk in front of his opponent’s home crowd.
But Ingram did not disappoint and took the gold medal, his first
in the event.
Ben Quilter continued his
successful feats at this event by taking the second gold medal,
adding to his silver medal in 2008, and gold in 2006. Quilter
progressed through his preliminaries beating Teenu Kuusisto (FIN),
Eletherios Zervakis (GRE) and Andriy Butenko (UKR), and overcame
Ihar Staselka of Belarus in the semi-final.
Quilter was then awarded
the gold medal after Ramin Ibrahmov of Azebaijan, the Beijing
Paralympic bronze medallist, withdrew.
Joe Ingram started off
well, beating Reine Gunnarsson of Sweden, but lost to USA’s Myles
Porter in his second fight. Ingram managed to cut Germany’s Oliver
Upmann’s winning streak short in his third fight, earning his
place in the final. Due to an error by the organisers, Ingram
faced Porter once again but settled for the silver medal after
a final defeat.
Taking the second silver
medal Kendal Judo Club’s Alex Farrington, the only female player
sent by Britain, earned her place on the rostrum with only one
loss to Romona Brussig of Germany and three wins against Nikoletta
Fassa GRE, Christina Skandali GRE, and Cindy Simon USA.
Youngster Marc Powell took to the
mat in the -73kg weight category and finished in 5 th place.
Steve Turbitt also competed
in the -73kg weight category as part the six-strong team, and
all took part in the training camp after.
Commenting on the team’s
performance, Paralympic Programme Manager Dave Sanders, said,
“We are pleased with the results. It shows good progression in
all the players and they all put in strong performances throughout
the day.
“As this is the first event
of the year for the team, it has put us in good stead for the
World Championships in March in Turkey. Preparations will continue
and we hope the medals keep coming in Turkey.”
Final Results:
Sam Ingram (-90kg) Gold
Ben Quilter (-60kg) Gold
Joe Ingram (-100kg) Silver
Alex Farrington (-52kg)
Silver
Marc Powell (-73kg) 5th
place
©Mike
Varey
Media Contact:
Nicola Turner
British Judo Association
(t) 01509 631692/07854
244343
nicola.turner@britishjudo.org.uk
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