26 April 2009 - Kidderminster Green Belt and Below Competition

Report by Lisa

New Star Bristol had a successful day at the Walsall competition with just a small number of judoka making the trip. Everyone did the club proud by winning a medal; we came away with 3 gold and 4 bronze.

First up was Amy. She lost her 1st fight by two Wazaris, however, following a conference between the officials, the fight was restarted because Amy's opponent was gripping her round the neck. This time Amy was held down for an Ippon. She won her 2nd and 3rd fights by an Ippon throw and two Wazaris. That was good enough for Amy reach the final where she met her first opponent again. This time she made no mistakes and threw her for an Ippon in 9 seconds to take the gold medal.

Next up was Cameron. He won his 1st pool fight with an Ippon throw, lost the 2nd by the same score and won the 3rd, again by an Ippon. He then had a long wait for the finals (which took place while Myles and Dominic were fighting on another mat). In the finals he had a bye in the 1st round, lost by an Ippon throw in the 2nd and won the 3rd by the same score, thereby securing the bronze medal.

Keeping the crowd's attention on two fronts were Dominic and Myles, once again paired in the same weight group. Dominic won his 1st fight with an Ippon throw, the 2nd fight by two Wazaris, the 3rd and 4th fights were both won by Ippon throws and the 5th fight saw the two brothers battling each other, Dominic being victorious with an Ippon throw. This performance was good enough for Dominic to reach the final, where he Ipponed his opponent in 7 seconds to take the gold medal. Myles narrowly lost his 1st fight by two Yukos, had the fastest win of the day in his 2nd fight (a 6 second Ippon), won his 3rd with an Ippon throw and his 4th fight was against Dominic. These results earned Myles the bronze medal.

After receiving her gold medal in the U44 kg category, Amy volunteered to fight in the U48s which only had one entrant. On arriving at her mat, she was joined by a third girl who we later discovered was the only entrant in the U52 kg category. Amy lost her 1st fight in 4 seconds and the 2nd to an Ippon hold but still came away with the bronze medal.

Next up was Scott from Yate. He won his 1st fight with an Ippon hold, his 2nd and 3rd fights each with an Ippon throw and his 4th fight with an Ippon hold. This took him to the semi-final, during which he injured his shoulder and was forced to withdraw but still came away with the bronze medal.

Very late on in the day, Rebecca took to the mat where she had 5 fights and won all of them (1st and 2nd by Ippon throws, 3rd and 4th by Yukos and the final by an Ippon throw) to take the gold medal. During one of Rebecca's fights, her opponent started to pick her toe after the referee had called "Hajime". Rebecca pounced on her to win the bout by a single Yuko.

A special mention must go to Natasha who successfully passed her Area Referee exams at this competition.

Thanks as always to John and Judy for their effective coaching and the small but vocal crowd of parents and Julie.