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The British visually impaired
team judo has returned from the IBSA World Championships in Antalya,
Turkey with one champion, two silver medallists and one bronze
winner.
The first medal for Britain
was won by 28-year-old Ben Quilter, who became the first British
visually impaired World Champion in twelve years.
Quilter, who trains at
the British Judo Performance Institute in Dartford, is also only
the fifth Brit ever to hold the title – the last being Simon Jackson
MBE in 1998.
Immediately after stepping
off the rostrum, Ben said, “I feel really proud to be at the top
of the rostrum with the other medallists - all who are Beijing
Paralympic medal winners. This feels out of this world!”
In the final of the -60kg
competition, Quilter earned his World crown in style throwing
then holding down his opponent Eigdar Habibollah of Iran.
This is a career best for
Quilter who had previously finished in 5th place on two occasions
at this event.
The two silver medals were
earned by two brothers from Coventry, who are the first British
siblings to both win silver medals at a World Championships.
Paralympic bronze medallist
Sam Ingram, who trains at one of British Judo’s recognised training
centres, Ratho in Edinburgh, soared through his preliminary rounds
and was the first out of the two to fight in his final.
After losing out in the
final to Beijing Olympic champion Oleg Krestul of Russia he said,
“I am happy I got to the final, I put in some good performances
in the early rounds. It’s always disappointing to lose in the
final, but I felt the fight was closer this time round between
us, and I can go away and work on my core judo and beat him next
time.”
Joe Ingram, who trains
full time at the British Judo Performance Institute in Dartford,
kept his focus on his own contests to win the silver medal in
the -100kg weight category.
“I didn’t watch Sam’s final,
I tried to keep my focus and not get too overwhelmed going into
the fight,” he said.
After also losing his final
to Gwanggeun Chon of Korea, Joe said, “The Korean I fought in
the final was just too good for me. I am happy with my silver
medal, I fought hard for it – winning against the Beijing Olympic
champion Antonio Silva of Brazil in my semi-final was a real highlight.”
Taking the final medal
for GB was Lesley Reid from Royston, who is one out of only two
females in the squad.
Reid took a well deserved
bronze, after a tough fight in the third round against Yanping
Yuan of China. Yuan used her weight to pin the Brit in a hold
early on in the fight to win the contest, leaving Reid to fight
for bronze through the repechage.
Elsewhere, Alex Farrington
finished in a credible 5th place in the -57kg weight category,
a career best for the fighter who was identified by British Judo’s
VI Talent Search just over a year ago and Darren Harris competed
in the -66kg competition, but failed to gain a place.
Commenting on the team’s
performance, Margaret Hicks, Performance Director said, “The medals
won by this team, including a world title, are a great indication
that the technical influence of Head Coach Patrick Roux and the
professionally managed VI programme, led by Dave Sanders, Paralympic
Programme Manager, being delivered out of the BJPI in Dartford
and Ratho in Edinburgh, is starting to have a real performance
impact. This also includes the integrated coaching with new VI
lead coach Jean Paul Bell, sport science and sport medicine support.”
“These results are an important
marker for Paralympic success in London 2012,” she added.
©
Bilgin Yurdalan
Media Contact:
Nicola Turner
PR Officer
British Judo Association
(t) 01509 631692/07854
244343
nicola.turner@britishjudo.org.uk
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