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Congratulations to Little Blake, Mason, Showgo and Eliot who all fought in the London Area Boys Team in Walsall this weekend, where the team won a silver medal. The fighters from Ealing, Stratford, Moberly, Enfield, Ernest Bevin, A1 and Tower Hamlets Judo clubs all fought with real heart and gave fantastic support to one another throughout the event.
The London Area Girls Team won a bronze medal, despite putting out a weakened team. The girls showed skill, determination and commitment from the beginning to the end of the day. Well done especially to EJC members Hanna, Hollie, Julia, Lucy and Harkirat as they fought alongside girls from JSC, Stratford and Enfield JC.to pull off this very welcome medal.
Massive props to Jenny Costen and Lyam Quin who fought in the London Senior teams. Neither the women or men medalled but all gave of their best and all were a credit to the London Area.
This weekend we were at the London Open, a domestic ranking event for Pre-Cadets (born 1999-2000), Cadets (born 1996-1998) and Seniors, as well as having Masters groups (for the over 30's), a Minors age band (born 2001-2005 - not ranking) and a Junior age band (u21 - not ranking).
The event was staged at UEL Sportsdock, which was an excellent facility, if a little warm. Despite the glorious weather outside almost 600 competitors turned up to compete over the two days, with 14 Ealing Judo Club members included in that entry.
All club members gave of their best and although not all won medals it was still a great weekend of judo. Sofija won a bronze medal in the Minors age band, while Megan Walmsley placed 5th. Little Luke was unable to gain a win, but still fought well considering he was only 8 in such an open group. In the tough Pre-Cadet age band Mason and Hollie won bronze medals, hot on the heels of the medals they both won at the National Team Championships lst weekend. Cameron won a silver medal, his first British ranking result ever. In the Cadet groups Blixa won bronze, Dan Vary won a silver medal and Eliot won gold.
On Day 2 Eliot returned to have a go at the u21 age band and matched his performance from the previous day, by winning gold again! In the Senior women's event Jenny and Sammie each won bronze medals , as did John in the Masters section.
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Above: Our Pre-Cadets with their medals - L-R Hollie, Cameron and Mason.
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Mario Moore was EJC's Lone Ranger at this small, but friendly event. He won all 3 contests to earn himself a welcome gold.
Today was a special day! Little Megan won gold at u28kg, while her big sister Hollie repeated the result at u40kg; both girls competed in the yellow and orange belt section. Our Green to brown belt fighters, Sofija and Mason also won golds at u40kg & u46kg respectively. It is not often all members of one team come away as event champions and so they all deserve a real pat on the back.
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Nekoda was representing club and country at her first Grand Slam. She lost her first contest to Germany's Johanna Mueller and that put her out of the tournament. The training camp that followed was a great experience and lots of positive work was done.
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Above: some of our tiny Mighties lined up ready to practise a little tournament judo, at the end of our 360Judo Summer Camp.
GOLD Paige Bartlett
GOLD Isabelle Bartlett
GOLD Peter Davies
GOLD Daniel MacKenzie
GOLD Luke Davies
GOLD Ashton Harvey
GOLD Lucas McGivney
SILVER Ellis Davies
SILVER Sean Higgins
SILVER Mario Moore
BRONZE Oscar Davendra
BRONZE Ruben Davendra
Cadets
GOLD Eliot Bradford
Pre-Cadets
SILVER Mason Gulaidi-Barber
SILVER Cameron Harvey
BRONZE Hollie Walmsley
Senior
BRONZE Sammie Grant
Well done also to Megan, Jenny and Giovanni, who all missed out on medals narrowly.
Nekoda was selected to represent Great Britain at the German Junior European Cup in Berlin, one of the most well attended events on the circuit this year, with almost 60 young women in the u57kg category alone. Nekoda won her first contest, against Guihur of France (winner of the Austrian Junior European Cup), then won her second against Schellert of Germany, the third against Malmborg of Sweden and then the quarter final against Brazil's Barreto. She then lost the semi to Europe's former number 1, Kocher of Switzerland. In the bronze medal match Stoll of Germany caught Nekoda with a neat technique to gain an ippon win and the medal, so our girl had to settle for 5th place this time. Still, another 6 high quality contests have been fought and have offered lots of information for future planning, so on to the next we go...
On Day 1 there was a gold for Cameron in the Pre-Cadet age band (u66kg), throwing all 4 opponents for ippon. Mason came close too, at u46kg, taking a very positive silver medal. In the 'A' Band Sasha and Mario missed out, but little Luke Davies won a bronze medal and showed some very good Judo.
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Above: Luke Davies with his bronze medal.
Nekoda made that huge jump into the best Senior event in the world, outside the Olympic Games, this year, when she was selected to represent GB at the Worlds in Rio. Always billed as an important developmental step, Nekoda's participation did not disappoint. She fulfilled her obligation to prepare well and came to Rio sharp and ready to fight. She was drawn against World bronze medalist Karakas of Hungary, who also placed 5th at the London Olympic Games. This was a tall order but not one that couldn't be jumped.
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Above: Jo and Nekoda at the Corcovado (Christ the Redeemer).
Nekoda dominated the contest from the outset, throwing Karakas for waza-ari and forcing two shidos against her. Pace was good, gripping good. almost on the bell Karakas changed sides, however and caught Nekoda for a waza-ari. Still being ahead, Nekoda thought she had just done enough to keep the victory, but a crushing blow came as the top table up-graded the throw to ippon, ending Nekoda's campaign at this world championships. It was a devastating end to such a great fight, but of course it is not the end of Nekoda's career at this level, greater heights are still to come.
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Above: The lightweight end of the British world team - Ashley McKenzie (Camberley), Nekoda (Ealing Judo Club), Jan Gosiewski (Team Bath) and Colin Oates (Kumo).
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Above: Ibrahim, Mason, Ali, Showgo and Erik ready to rumble!
The boys all put in good performances today, which was especially pleasing as 3 were in new weight groups.
Mason went through the first 3 rounds with ease, but was halted in the final by an old adversary and finished his day with a very credible silver medal. Showgo and Erik also won places in their respective final, but both repeated Mason's result. Ali struggled in the early rounds and didn't not make it to the medal matches, but little brother, Ibrahim, put in an excellent performance to win a bronze in the same category as Showgo. Very well done to all of our boys today.
Three of our yellow belt boys, Sammy, Sasha and Mario made the journey up to Nottingham, alongside our Seniors, Martin and Pierre. The team was supportive with each other and worked hard to prepare well for each contest.
In the Junior section Mario and Sasha each won silver medals, while Sammy took a bronze. Martin & Pierre, orange belt seniors in an open Kyu grade section, fought excellently, each beating a brown belt on the way to respective bronze and silver medals. Well done to all.
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Above: Sammy, Mario and Mario in Nottingham
Coach John took Dan Vary, Omar, Blixa and Chris off to Wycombe for this tough ranking event. Omar missed out on medals in a very challenging group indeed. Chris won a bronze, while Dan and Blixa each won silver. Blixa's perfromance was particularly pleasing. Well done boys!
Our Pre-Cadets worked hard in Walsall, with Mason taking a good silver and Ali and Cameron winning bronzes. Big Blake and Showgo each placed 5th, while Ibrahim and Hollie missed out. In the Cadet age band Dan and Blixa were close to medals but didn't make it to the podium. Blixa was fighting particularly well but was eventually caught, in fight 5 by a fast and well executed strangle.
On day 2 our Seniors put out a great display. 4 silver medals between them, from Scott, Lucy, Charlotte and Harkirat. Harkirat then went one better in the Junior section and took the gold.
Well done to all. This is never a walkover event and so all of these athletes did themselves proud.
GOLD Paige Bartlett
GOLD Roisin Crispini
GOLD Lily Clarkson
GOLD Jamie McLaughlin
GOLD Marko Kovac
SILVER Emma Martinelli
SILVER Isabelle Bartlett
SILVER Sophia Crispini
SILVER Maddie Birri
SILVER Francesca Birri
SILVER Ellis Davies
SILVER Rufus Vidal
SILVER Peter Davies
SILVER Alessio Martinelli
SILVER Oscar Davendra
SILVER Kees Oele
SILVER Oscar Gjesdal
SILVER Rex Vidal
BRONZE Sumire Akamatsu-Carey
BRONZE Grace Murphy
BRONZE Ayami Doisaki
BRONZE Lucas McGivney
BRONZE Ruben Davendra
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Many thanks to Osterley, Enfield, Willow Heart and Croydon Judo Clubs for their participation and positive contribution to this little training event.
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This was a first for us, making an open invitation for anyone to attend and we were really happy with the take-up from other clubs. Thanks to Brunel Uni, Osterley, Hillingdon, Coulsdon and Windsor members for making the event so positive. The EJC results were as follows:
Men's Dan Grade Open
GOLD Lyam Quin
GOLD Scott Turner
BRONZE Eliot Bradford
Men's Light Kyu Grades
GOLD Cameron Harvey
BRONZE Daniel Shaw
Men's Heavy Kyu Grades
BRONZE Trevor Moore
Women's Open
SILVER Sammie Grant
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We had an excellent day in Kidderminster, with Lyam taking a silver medal in the Men's 3rd Dan Open, Giovanny earning his first national medals - a silver at u66kg and a gold in the Men's Open 1st Dan section. Despite a great start John didn't medal, but he did complete his points for his 3rd Dan. All in all it was a day full of positive performances.
Having an athlete selected for any milestone event is very satisfying and always makes us proud, but all those feelings grow exponentially when that player brings home a medal. Nekoda was selected to represent Great Britain at this European Championships, on the back of fighting in the Senior Europeans and Worlds already this year. There was a lot of pressure to bring a medal home, but with no British female doing so in the last 3 years, despite Nekoda's European number 1 ranking, it was going to be a challenge.
In round one Nekoda had a bye, moving into the last 16, to face Guihar of France. Our girl threw her French opponent for ippon and moved into the quarter finals, against Konkina of Russia. This was a tougher contest and very much dependent on strategy, but Nekoda won on penalties to head into the semi. Here she met an old adversary, Mezhetskaia, also of Russia. Despite beating her in the Ukraine in May Nekoda was not complacent. She dominated in the early stages of the contest but was caught for ippon by a beautifully timed foot sweep on the edge of the area. This pushed her into the bronze medal match against another old rival, Malmborg of Sweden.
Here Nekoda upped her pace and decided to go all out for that medal. She went ahead by waza-ari but did not let that lead her into a settled pace. She kept firing in the attacks and as Malmborg tried desperately to catch our girl Nekoda whipped her over for ippon and took the medal.
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Above: Thanks to the EJU photographer, Carlos Ferreira, for this great shot.
Nekoda finally has her first European Championships medal and is now very ready for the challenge to win more of them. She will compete at the Junior(u21) World Championships in Slovenia in October.
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Above: Our wonderful A Band group
This group of tiny Mighties performed as any coach would be proud of. They had heart, intelligence and team spirit and all gave of their best. In the huge u38kg group Kai won a silver medal and Tohgo placed 7th. At u28kg Megan placed 5th, narrowly missing out on the medals. Sofija also placed 5th, at u40kg. Ammi won gold and became our youngest ever British Champion, at only 9 years of age. She competed at u36kg and looked ina league of her own in the group.
Well done to the whole team. National events are always littered with highs and lows, but on the whole this was a very good day.
We had a great day in Florennes, with all 9 of the Mighties picking up medals and many performing brilliantly to do so. Well done to Sumire, Hollie & Mario, particularly, as it was their first time fighting outside the British Isles and this can be a daunting prospect for any Judoka. They equipped themselves well and should be proud of their achievements and bravery.
GOLD Megan Walmsley
GOLD Ammi Takahashi
GOLD Kai Takahashi
GOLD Hollie Walmsley
GOLD Blake Inniss
GOLD Cameron Harvey
SILVER Mason Gulaidi-Barber
BRONZE Sumire Akamatsu-Carey
BRONZE Mario Moore
On Day 2 of our Belgian Tour the team put in yet more stirling performances to bring back a haul of medals, but more importantly, a haul of experience. This was a higher level tournament than yesterday's and so everyone had to step up to meet the challenge... and they did!
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Above: Mason winning the u50kg group today. Great ne-waza!
Below: The Mighties and some of their medal haul this weekend in Belgium.
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GOLD Megan Walmsley
GOLD Ammi Takahashi
GOLD Kai Takahashi
GOLD Mason Gulaidi-Barber
GOLD Cameron Harvey
SILVER Blake Inniss
BRONZE Sumire Akamatsu-Carey
BRONZE Mario Moore
BRONZE Hollie Walmsley
Our small band of merry men hit High Wycombe, having put some good training in of late. Pierre and Remi, both at u66kg, contended in the men's Novice to green belt section and the men's blue to brown belt section, respectively. Remi won a bronze medal, while Pierre went one better winning a silver. Well done to both.
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A bit of a last minute trip to Belgium provided a few of our seniors with a much-needed run-out this weekend. Lewis Keeble of Tamar Judo Centre caught a lift with us too and was rewarded with 3 contests, 3 ippon wins and a gold medal. Charlotte matched his result, taking gold in a tough women's group, comprising fighters from France, Belgium and Cameroon! Sammie and Harkirat each put in strong performances too and each came away with a silver medal. Well done all!
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We love this event as it is one of the few in the calendar that allows all age bands to support each other on one day. We had a great day, coming 2nd to Pinewood again for the team trophy, but managing to win the most gold medals on the day. Young Ammi Takahashi was also awarded the 'Female Player of the Day' trophy and maybe, at 9, she is the youngest girl ever to receive it.
Under 12
GOLD Megan Walmsley (u28kg)
GOLD Megan Walmsley (u32kg)
GOLD Ammi Takahashi
GOLD Sofija Bojat
--- Luke Davies
Under 16
GOLD Ammi Takahashi
GOLD Kai Takahashi
GOLD Cameron Harvey
SILVER Sofija Bojat
SILVER Hollie Walmsley
SILVER Mason Gulaidi-Barber
SILVER Kyle Fernandez
Senior
GOLD Harkirat Sekhon
GOLD Charlotte Potter
GOLD Sammie Grant
BRONZE Daniel Vary
BRONZE Scott Turner
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Above L-R: Paige, Samuel, Luke, Oliver & Evan, with Megan and Hollie in front of them
This little team of Tiny Mighties really went to town on their opponents in Kidderminster this weekend. Everyone tried new techniques, everyone showed improvements in ne-waza and all were fantastic ambassadors for the club.
In the red belt section Luke Davies took gold, winning all 3 contests by ippon, while Samuel and Evan Spencer each took bronze. Paige Bartlett pulled a great performance out of the bag to win a silver in a very tough group. Luke then competed in the open Lightweight red belt group and won a silver, winning another 3 contests by ippon.
Our yellow and orange belt group were also on fine form, with Oliver winning a bronze and Megan and Hollie Walmsley each winning silver, with some wonderful Ippon Judo along the way.
Harkirat travelled with the England Squad for this popular international tournament. She fought 3 tough contests and won a silver medal for her trouble. Harkirat takes medals consistently at tournaments on the continent and is working hard to step up into the European ranking events.
This is always a fun and inclusive event and with great medals to work for. All players gave it their best.
On Saturday we had a gold from Cameron, silvers from Mason, Sammie and Scott and bronzes with Pierre, Hollie, Karl-Kareem & Kai. Martin and Big Blake didn't medal this time, despite fighting well. A big well done to Karl-Kareem, who was participating in his first Judo tournament.
On Sunday just 3 players took to the mat, with Dan Vary winning gold in his u90kg group, Ammi winning gold at u36kg and Megan winning a bronze at u28kg.
Luke Balfre fought very well in this event and after two wins and two losses placed 7th.
Little Luke was our only fighter in the red belt section and he won all 3 contests by ippon to take the gold. He then fought up in the novice to 6th Mon section and with some powerful ne-waza managed to win a bronze medal there too.
Our Mighty crew then went to work in the open grade under 16 section. Megan, Tohgo, Sofija and Cameron were all impressive, winning gold medals and looking professional throughout. They were backed up by silver medal-winning performances from Mason and Hollie. Showgo won a bronze too and Ali placed 5th. Overall this was a very pleasing day. Well done to all.
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Above L-R: Sofija, Luke, Megan & Hollie with their lovely medals.
Domestic ranking points, Dan grade points, medals... lots at stake today. The Mighties did not disappoint, putting excellent performances in, all round. Harkirat won gold in the u48kg section, taking her to #1 on the British Senior ranking list. Julia, competing at her first tournament for some months, fought with heart and spirit to produce a bronze medal winning effort. Charlotte fought well too and with her only loss against a London Olympian, she too earned a bronze. This result puts Charlotte at #1 on the GB ranking list too.
Luke Blafre, who fought in the Juniors yesterday too, fought excellently, bring home a 7th place, despite only being 18 years old. Sammie had a tough day, but only the result was disappointing, the performance was very encouraging. Scott was our final player of the day, contesting the u100kg group. He had 5 hard fights, winning 3 and losing 2 to place 5th.
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Above: Our medallists from this tough domestic tournament.
Below: Julia and Nekoda warming up in Malaga.
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The fight sheet doesn't quite show how good the Mighties were today. All 4 of our girls fought excellently. Harkirat lost to the eventual silver medalist in the first round and was pulled back into the repercharge, but lost there too. Julia and Charlotte also had tough first round contests and both fought close matches, but without a win.
Nekoda fought at under 57kg and was seeded number 1, due to her European ranking of 4. She won all 4 of her contests, 3 of them won uncharacteristically by penalties. This gave her a very welcome gold medal, her 2nd gold at a Senior European Cup, having won the Bosnian equivalent back in March of this year. The gold in Malaga will springboard Nekoda back to #2 in Europe. Well done to all of these girls!
Coach Jo went along for a little rumble. She won her first 2 contests by ippon but lost the final to an experienced World Masters medalist. Silver was Jo's result today.
GOLD Caoimhe Earles
GOLD Ellis Davies
GOLD Peter Davies
GOLD Samuel Spencer
GOLD Oliver Spencer
GOLD Paige Bartlett
GOLD Maddie Birri
GOLD Luke Davies
SILVER Sean Higgins
SILVER Daniel MacKenzie
SILVER Lara Hernandez-Byrne
SILVER Poppy Love
BRONZE Francesca Birri
BRONZE Tariq Sadouki
BRONZE David Klavs
BRONZE Isabelle Bartlett
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Above: All who competed, along with referee Daniel Vary.
We must make a special mention of Tariq, who was awarded a special trophy for 'Spirit of Judo'. Well done Tariq!
A very well done to the Tiny Mighties who came along to compete on this chilly Friday evening. It was a fun event, with a bit of sparkle provided by Paralympian Ian Rose.
GOLD Paige Bartlett
GOLD Poppy Love
GOLD Peter Davies
GOLD Karl-Kareem Melaini
SILVER Jamie McLaughlin
SILVER Marko Kovac
BRONZE Ellis Davies
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There was a special award given to Peter for 'Throw of the Day' and Poppy won the 'Best Girl' trophy. Well done to Erik, too, for the sterling work he did as referee.
We had a fantastic day we had at this event. I am always surprised that more clubs don't make the effort to attend as the atmosphere is electric, the ethos is so positive and the clubs that do go always get behind their teams to produce some awesome judo.
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Lightweight Girls - 'Ealing's Tiny Mighties'
GOLD Megan Walmsley
GOLD Ammi Takahashi
GOLD Sofija Bojat
Heavyweight Boys - 'Ealing's Mighty Futures'
GOLD Showgo Kimura
GOLD Blake Inniss
GOLD Cameron Harvey
Senior Women - 'Ealing's Mighty Ladies'
GOLD Nekoda Davis
GOLD Julia Scardone
GOLD Charlotte Potter
We had 3 competing in the Pre-Cadet age band. Big Blake placed 5th, while Cameron and Hollie each won a silver medal. In the Cadet age band Blixa placed 7th and Dan Vary won a bronze medal. Well done to these 5 young fighters.
Just two intrepid young judoka took to the road for this well run event in the Midlands and both of them were competing yesterday too! Hollie put in an excellent performance to win both of her contests by ippon for a gold medal. Cameron fought in the new Cadet age band and won gold, while also taking part in the Senior Kyu Grade section, where he won a second gold.
It was a perfect day, with very encouraging performances from both of these youngsters.
Julia Scardone fought as our only representative at this event, fighting for her university, UEL, on home soil. She fought excellently, winning in the early rounds with some great Judo. Julia lost the final to a British International and brought home a silver medal.
Our small team was on good form today. In the under 12 age band young Ammi Takahashi won gold in a new weight group, while little underdog Luke Davies won his quarter and semi-finals in the u30kg section, but lost his final to bring back a great silver. Paige Bartlett and first-timer Lara Hernandez-Byrne came away with a bronze and a silver respectively, after putting in gutsy performances.
In the under 17 age band just Erik Gee attended and in a tough group he fought very well, winning his pool but then losing a fast-paced semi to settle for bronze.
This year's British Championships for Cadets and Pre-Cadets was always going to be a challenge as all our Cadet boys have just come up into their first Cadet event and half our Pre-Cadets fought in the 'A' Band in September. But a challenge is what we want if we are going to stretch ourselves and so the Mighties set to work.
On Saturday Showgo (British Champion from January, in the Pre-Cadet age band), fought excellently, winning 4 contests by ippon, before eventually losing out. He placed 7th on the day, giving a good account of himself in his new Cadet age catogory. Cameron won 1 and lost two, but as this was his first British Championships he will use what he has learned to springboard him into the coming year. Blake Inniss, prepared very well for the event, despite a stack of minor injuries through the year. He was ready for action, but not able to notch up a result. He, too, will be back and more ready than ever next year.
Our Pre-Cadet girls were on good form, with Hollie competing at her first British Championships and placing 7th. Sofija, already a two-time national medalist, stepped up to her new age band and with some excellent strategic play saw herself through the first round and the quart final, before meeting an old adversary in the semi-final. Despite a good performance Sofija lost that contest, but won a tight fight for bronze, against a strong Scottish opponent.
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Above: Sofija on the rostrum in Sheffield - bronze Pre-Cadet u40kg.
On Sunday Kyra was our only Cadet and despite showing great spirit was unable to get into the medals. Our Pre-Cadet boys were in play in the afternoon. Young Ibrahim fought well in his first contest but had to withdraw from the event after landing awkwardly. Tohgo, however, had a fantastic day, winning 3 tough fights on the way to a place in the final. There he was beaten by a strong opponent from South Brent. Tohgo's silver medal is his first prize at this level. Congratulations from us all.
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Above: Tohgo with his silver medal and his proud coach.
We had our best ever results for the British Senior Championships, with Nekoda winning gold for the first time and Harkirat winning a bronze medal, her first medal at this level. Both have been taken on to the British Senior Team for 2014. Emily also fought excellently and just missed out on the medals, placing 5th.
Well done to Demi, Julia, Charlotte, Luke, Sammie and Scott who all gave it their best shot too. No medals for them, but some great team spirit all the same.
Our Juniors had some great fights but only Harkirat managed a medal, winning silver at u48kg. Four wins and 1 loss for her, a great result. Luke came close with 6 contests to plough through, but didn't make it into the final pool. Emily, Dan Vary, Daniel Woodhouse and Eliot all missed out medals this time.
Just little Luke Davies fought in this event. He had 4 contests and won all 4 by ippon to win a gold medal.
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GOLD Peter Davies
GOLD Poppy Love
GOLD Luke Davies
GOLD Paige Bartlett
GOLD Caoimhe Earles
SILVER Jamie McLaughlin
SILVER Samuel Spencer
SILVER Ayami Doisaki
SILVER Ashton Harvey
BRONZE Ellis Davies
BRONZE Isabelle Bartlett
BRONZE Alexey Belyakov-McDonnough
Luke won a trophy for 'Best Boy' of the tournament and Poppy won the award for 'Best Girl'. Well done to all who took part and thanks to Osterley JC for organising the event.
Four of our Junior (u21) fighters flew out to the Canary Islands for this international event. Daniel Vary aniel Woodhouse (u81kg) and Luke Balfre (u73kg) each won bronze. Harkirat also won a bronze at u48kg. The team was consistent!
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Above: Training camp after the tournament.
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