Mions International, France

In April I went over to France for the Mions International. This is a very strong event with very large groups and is followed by a good training camp. I have done this competition for the last three years and we have stayed with Monique and Antoine at their house. There were 34 fighters in my group and it was my first event I had done at -42 kg.

Results sheet 1

http://www.judomions.fr/uploads/fichiers/Tournoi_2011/MinimesM/-42_1.pdf

Results sheet 2

http://www.judomions.fr/uploads/fichiers/Tournoi_2011/MinimesM/-42_2.pdf

I won five of my six fights and won the Bronze Medal. In the three years I have fought here I have won 1 silver and 2 bronze medals and the standard of fighter has been really good.

International Sparda-Cup, Duisberg, Germany

I travelled over to Germany for the International Sparda Cup in Duisberg. This was an event only for under 15 boys and there were over 300 entered. I had moved up again in weight to the under 40kg section and was in a group of 38. There were entrants from Germany, The Netherlands, Russia, Belgium and Germany. The quality of the judoka was very very high and I would need to fight very well to get near a medal..

Vadim Shenk (Germany) First Fight

I did not get a good draw and my first fight was against one of the German favourites who had won a big event a couple of weeks earlier. I won with a yuko in Golden Score. Vadim won all his remaining five fights to win the bronze medal.

Darvin Just (Germany) Second Fight

My second fight was against a strong local fighter which I won with four yukos.

Yannic Zieke (Germany) Third Fight

Yannic is a tough fighter from Bayer Leverkusen and this was a very tough fight. I found it hard to score but kept up the attacks to win 3-0 on flags.

Tim Schwab (Germany) Fourth Fight

Tim was in good form as he beat the Belgium champion, Jorre Verstraeten, in the first round. I scored with a yuko and then an ippon right at the end of the fight.

Sylvain Cerny (Belgium) Semi-Final

I know this was not going to be an easy fight. Sylvain had beat Luis Haubold in 9 seconds the last fight. Louis had earlier beaten the Russian fighter Kirill Akimov who had won the Antwerp Open in January. This was the hardest fight of the day which went all the way and I was pleased to win with a yuko and reach the final.

Magnomed Musaev (Germany) Final

Magnomed Musaev was in great form winning his quarter and semi final fights in 7 & 13 seconds. His semi-final fight was against the Russian fighter, Vladislav Urvantsev. Scores were level at a yuko each when Magnomed caught me with a good uchi-mata throwing me for ippon

I was really pleased with the silver medal in an event with so many top fighters in one group.

Pool Sheets : http://www.nwjv.de/download/2011/duisburg/duisburg_40.pdf

Results: http://www.nwjv.de/index.php?mf=/aktuell/2011/apr/0409-10a.htm

Sportif Judo Camp.....July 2011

I will be attending the Sportif Judo Camp up in Edinburgh on the 15-18th July 2011. There is a great line-up of coaches and there will be some quality randori. I would recommend this to any of my foreign friends as this will be a great camp. This will be great much needed summer training. Have a look on their web page below and I will see you there.

http://www.sportifjudo.com/Internationalcamp2011.html

North West Age Band, St. Helens

I was not looking forward to this competition. I had only trained twice since the Midlands two weeks ago because I had Tonsillitis. This was my last time at under 38kilos and I wanted to finish the weight group with a win.

Harry Walkley (Bishop Challenor) First Fight

I started well throwing harry for Ippon with O-Soto Gari

Francis Millward (Sportif) Second Fight

I had beat Francis at the Midlands in January but this was a much harder fight.

Cameron Ishmail (Gendros) Final

I fought Cameron in the final two weeks ago winning by a yuko. Cameron was dropping a lot stopping me getting any good attacks in. I controlled the fight when I could get hold winning 3-0 on flags.

Link to Results:

http://www.judotechnologies.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/North-West-Age-Band-Championships-2011-Saturday-Results.pdf

Midland Under 20's

After three hard events in France, The Netherlands and Belgium I was back to fighting at home. I was pleased with the way I fought at the Midlands and this will be one of my last comps at under 38's. I felt very strong and won all my fights beating Cameron Ishmail in the final.

Francis Millward (Sportif) First Fight

I threw Francis with Kata-Guruma

Callum McDonald (Sportif) Second Fight

Callum is a top fighter and is the under 34 British Champion. I threw Callum for a yuko and controlled the fight well. Callum had to attach and I caught him for ippon with one second left.

Cameron Ishmail (Gendros) Final

We have fought many times and the fights are always tough. I scored a yuko early on and kept in control.

Link to Results

http://www.judotechnologies.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/North-West-Age-Band-Championships-2011-Saturday-Results.pdf

Antwerp Open 2011, Belgium

Antwerp is always a hard competition and I did not start well losing my first fight to Giles Bonnema of the Netherlands. Giles had to get to the semi-final so I could get into the Repecharge. This was never going to happen so I was one and out again at this competition. The group was won by Kirill Akimov from Russia who I will be up against in Duisberg and Erfurt this year.

Last weekend was the Dutch Espoir in Eindhoven. This is a very big competition and there were 59 in my group. In my quarter of the draw was Mohamed Kochich (German Favourite), Jeffrey van der Vleit (2009 Champion) and Jorre Verstraten (Belgium No1). This was going to be very tough.

I fought well winning my first two fights against strong Dutch fighters. My third fight was against the strong German. I fought well and managed to make a good fight. Mohamed attacks at every chance and always comes forward at you. It was a good result to only lose the fight on flags.

I then had to fight Jorre Verstaratten in the repercharge. Jorre was on great form. After beating me he went on to win a Bronze Medal with all ippons. Most of the same fighters will be in Antwerp next weekend for the Antwerp Open.

Christmas Training Camps

This Christmas I was picking my training up in preparation for the Dutch Espoir and Antwerp open in January, as well as the Midlands and North West ranking events. For four days before Christmas I went down to the Tonbridge International camp in Kent and there were more than 350 players on the mat. I went with Connor Potts and Liam Tarandij. We only just made the camp because of the snow. The Tonbridge camp was really strong as some top Dutch fighters came over (Jeffrey van der Vliet, Matthijs van Harten and Ziggy van den Brink ). All three top Dutch fighters and the Randori was very tough.

After Christmas I went over to Rotterdam for the Budokan Camp where there were nearly 500 judo fighters there over the three days. Like the Tonbridge camp it was only Randori and for most of the sessions we had to do 10x4 minute randori without any rest between fights. This was a very strong camp and very tiring.

I will now have a week or so rest before a very tough January.

Bev Price Team Championships

This was the first time I had been able to enter this event.

I was able to get a team together with a couple of friends from other clubs. In the team was myself, Connor Potts and Ashton Whalley. We fought in the boys lightweight group. We had seven contests and got to the final winning them all 3-0. In the final we fought the Pinewood 'A' team of James Widman, Christian Tepper and George Lawes. They were a really strong team and the final went down to the last fight between me and George. It was a close contest which I won by a yuko.

We had a great day and I was really happy with the result.

British Judo Championships

This was my second year at Pre-Cadet and I was in good form and really ready for it this year. I had trained really hard and been to Poland on a camp. I had also had a week down at Gendros Judo Club training with them and doing lots of hill work on the beach. There were 21 in my weight group and lots of good fighters were in it. I really wanted the Gold medal after losing in the final the last two years.

Ewan Paul (Scotland) First Fight

Ewan had recently won the Scotish Championships and I had never fought him before. It took a bit to work his style out but I threw him for wazari near the end of the fight and held him down.

Connor Eaton (Northern Area) Second Fight

I fought Connor at the Heart of England and he is tall and hard to grip up. The fight went three minutes and I won with a yuko.

Freddy Hendy (Western) Third Fight

I had not fought Freddy before but I knew he was good as he won the 'A' band British in 2009. I threw him for Yuko then for Ippon with my uchi-mata.

Adam Herwig (Southern) Semi-Final

Adam is a good strong fighter who caused me some problems at the Heart of England. I was fighting well now and threw Adam for ippon with Uchi-Mata

Hasan Karakus (Northern Area) Final

I was now in my third British Championship final in a row and was in the mood to win the Gold. Adil is a very good fighter who has beaten me in the past. He has a great Uchi-Mata and had destroyed everybody in the other half of the draw. I controlled him well and avoided a massive uchi-mata attack from him. I then put in my Uchi-Mata to throw him for Ippon.

I had won and was British Champion for 2010. It was a good Birthday present to give my dad

Results

http://www.britishjudo.org.uk/pdf/BritishChampionships2010Results.pdf

North West Closed Championships.

My area is not the strongest area so I ended up fighting in three groups to make the numbers up. I had seven fights and won them all with Ippon.

British Championship trials

This was a nice waste of my day. We went all the way up to Kendal for me to have one fight and then come all the way back again. Whoever made that choice.....thanks

David Rankin (Wirral)

I won

Heart of England, Birmingham

I went to the Heart of England in good form after the training camp in Poland. I was still a little weak and had not enough time to recover from all the fitness work we had to do. Although I didn't fight well all day I managed to win all my fights and the Gold Medal.

Francis Millward (Scotland) First Fight

I threw Francis with Ippon late in the fight

Connor Eaton (Newburn) Second Fight

In another struggle I only managed to win by wazari.

Adam Herwig (Sovereign) Semi-Final

Adam was a tough fighter who I had never faced before. I was up by a yuko but was lucky not to have a score against me near the end of the fight.

Cameron Ismail (Gendros) Final

This was a scrappy final that I won on penalties.

I was not happy with my judo and need to give myself more rest before the Nationals

http://www.britishjudo.org.uk/pdf/HoEResults.pdf

Poland training Camp

My preperation for this years Heart of England is nearly complete. I have gone over to Poland for a five day training camp with SKK. Three sessions a day and lots of running should see me in good shape for Birmingham. Photos to follow

Welsh Age Bands 2010

I went down to Cardiff for the 2010 Welsh Age Bands. I had three fights winning them all and the gold medal.

Sid Hendy - First Fight (Polkyth)

I won my first fight against Sid with uchi-mata for ippon in 45 seconds

Tiarnan McGilloway - Second Fight (Long Tower)

This was the first time I had fought Tiarnan and I threw him with my sode in 9 seconds

Tommy Lewis - Third Fight (Gendros)

Tommy is a tough fighter and gripping for both of us was tough. I thought I controlled the fight well winning by a penalty.

The Parks Judo Camp

I went up to The Parks Judo Club for their summer training camp. It was great fun and really hot on the mat. The sessions were took by Jamie Johnson and we did a hard training session on the beach Sunday morning. There were over 5o people on the camp.

Kent International 2010

?????????????????(First Fight)
I won this very quick with Ippon
?????????????????? (Second Fight)
I also won this very quick with another ippon
Stef Popadopalus - Kodokan Judo, The Netherlands (Third Fight)

Stefan had beat me earlier in the year at the Dutch Espoir and is a very good fighter. He got Bronze Medals in this years Dutch Nationals and Dutch Espoir. I totally dominated the fight putting in every single attack. Stefan had one penalty for not attacking. I was really mad that I had allowed myself to be thrown on the very last second and lost the fight.
??????????????????- Belgium (Fourth Fight)
I won this fight with a hold down after about a minute
Elliot Burrage - Devizes (Fifth Fight)
This fight went into Golden Score and I won with Ko-Uchi Maki komi for Ippon.
Dominic Nelson - New Star, Bristol (Sixth Fight)
Dominic is a really strong fighters and I could not throw him in the first two minutes. I got a really lucky score to win by Yuko. It was a shame because it was a good fight.

Nottingham Open

I went over to Nottingham for the Nottingham Open. It was a really good venue and I had a great day. I fought at under 38's to get ready for Kent

Joe Gilbert (Red Phoenix) - First Fight
I won this fight in 3 seconds with an ippon
Sam Nosworthy (Kettering) - Second Fight
I scored an ippon after 25 seconds
Christian Tepper (Pinewood) - Semi-Final
Christian is a great little fighter but was only 30kg and was fighting at under 38's. He was fast and hard to catch. I scored a Yuko with my sode and then ippon with O-Uchi Gari.
Connor Potts (Goole) - Final
I was pleased to win this as easy as I did. I scored Ippon with O-Soto Gaeshi in 13 seconds.

Venray International, The Netherlands

Last weekend I went to the Netherlands for the 2010 Venray International Judo Tournament. Over 1500 of the best fighters from 23 different European countries competed. At under 15’s this is the premier event for children of my age. This was the fifth year I had attended this event I won Bronze and Silver Medals in 2006 and 2008. In my group were fighters from Belgium, Germany, France, Denmark, Great Britain, Latvia, Switzerland, Russia and the host country The Netherlands.

William Hale (Belgium) First Fight
My first fight was a tough match against a strong Belgian fighter. I am often a slow starter and I struggled with my first opponent’s awkward style and had to rely on the referee’s decision after a tough five minutes of fighting.

Maarten Zonneveld (The Netherlands) Second Fight

My next match was an easier affair beating a strong Dutch Judoka with a stylish foot sweep.

Connor Potts (England) Third Fight

My third fight was against a strong British Fighter. I controlled the fight well winning the fight and progressing through to the semi-finals.

Daniele Palma (Gernamy) Semi-Final

In the semi-finals I was up against an impressive German fighter who had earlier easily defeated fighters from France and Latvia. In a close tactical fight going the full five minutes I won 3-0 on flags and a place in the 2010 final.

Sandor De-Jong (The Netherlands) Final

In the final I was up against one of the top Dutch under fifteen fighters, Sandor De Jong. Sandor had easily beat me earlier in the year at the Dutch Espoir event. I had studied his style well since we last met, and controlled the fight from the start. After two close scores I threw the Dutch fighter for Ippon to become 2010 champion. Gold Medal in this event was my best International result to date.

St. Petersburg Judo Competition, Russia

At the end of April I went over to St. Petersburg, Russia for the 13th Children Olympic Start competition. It was a really big impressive venue. Although I enjoyed the trip I was not impressed with the referee on my mat. Although It was clear that I easily won the fight it was awarded to the Russian boy. Never mind we had a great trip.

Duisberg International, Germany

Segej Rempel (Germany) First Fight
He was a tall good fighter. I threw him with sode tsuri komi goshi for a wazari then held him down for the Ippon.

Pawel Kruachante (Germany) Second Fight
Pawel was a small fighter like me he was tough to throw. I kept on attacking which got him two shidos. I then threw him for ippon.

Bernd Lemmens (Semi-Final) Third Fight
Bernd is the number 1 in Belgium and is a very good strong fighter. It was more a gripping fight than a throwing fight but when we got grips I attacked straight away so he got a two penalties for not attacking.

Jens Malewany (Germany) Final
He was a tough fighter but I dominated the attacking and he got three penalties which won me the fight and the Gold Medal.

I was really pleased with the way I fought. I have not fought well the last few weeks and it has took a long time to recover from my virus. I am now fighting well and strong again. I am looking forward to my trip to Russia this week.

Rouen International, France

I had a great trip over to France with the Yorkshire & Humberside squad for the 2010 Rouen International. My dad said this used to be a harder competition but this year it was rubbish. There were not many entrants and the judo was very poor.. I won the Gold with Connor Potts winning the Silver. We had a good time though.

Mions International, Lyon, France

Mions is a very hard competition. There were 700 fighters from 12 countries. There were lots of regional teams from France taking part. I had 27 in my under 34kg weight group. I did not like the rules this year as you had to take a grip with both hands before you were allowed to attack. We stayed with Antoine and Monique they are very nice and it gives me a chance to try my French. I really enjoy the waffles with chocolate that Monique makes all day at the competition.

Jessym Bourouaha (France) First Fight

I was happy to win my first fight with an Ippon

Antoine Routier (France) Second fight

Antoine was a good fighter who had won the under 30kg section in 2009. I threw Antoine for Ippon but it did not count because I had only gripped him with one hand. Antoine countered my poor O-Uchi-Gari late on and won the fight with a Wazari.

Lucas Charpin (France) Third Fight

Lucas was a good fighter from one of the regional Teams. I got 2 early scores and defended well. With 10 seconds left I threw Lucas with a big Ippon Seoi-Nage.

Massard Guilaud ( France) Fourth Fight

Christian was a very tall fighter. This fight went the distance and I won it with a wazari and a yuko.

Dylan Dias (Belgium) Bronze Medal Fight

Dylan is a very good fighter but I was fighting better now. I controlled the fight winning it with 2 wazaris.

I was very pleased to come back and win a bronze after losing to Antoine. The group was won by Gwenael Duny. He is a good strong fighter from Marseille. We got on very well and I look forward to some good fights with him.

On Monday there was a good training camp with more than 250 on the mat

Southern Area Open

This year the Southern Area Open was held at the K2

Sam Choudrey (Pinewood) First Fight
I won my first fight with a hold down

Aaron Cook (Eastleigh) Second Fight
I won my second fight by Ippon

Sam Blair (Pinewood) Semi Final
Sam is a good fighter and I was pleased to beat him by Wazari

Kieran Kelly (Zodiac) Final
Kieran had been fighting well to get to the final. I threw Kieran with a foot sweep for Ippon

North West Open

The North West was the second ranking event and I was in the Pre-Cadet under 34kg

Sean Dorans (Scotland) First Fight
I beat Sean with an Ippon early in the fight.
Daniel Laws (Newburn)
I also won my second fight and held Daniel down in the first minute.
Miles Nelson (New Star) Semi-Final
I was slow to start in the semi but held Miles down to get into the final
Daniel Laws (Newburn) Final
I was in control and scored three Yukos but could not catch Daniel for an ippon. I won the Gold Medal and 10 more ranking points

Midlands Under 20

The Midland event was the first ranking event of the year. I wanted to get off to a winning start to the year.

Josh Stringer (Scotland) First Fight

I won my first fight in 10 seconds.

Myles Nelson (New Star) Second Fight

I threw Miles with Tomo-Nage in 25 seconds.

Callum McDonald (Scotland)

I threw Callum for Ippon to take the Gold Medal and 10 ranking points.