MATCH REPORTS Jan-Jun 2007

7th January - Challenge Jean-Julien Cup, Paris, France

Three of our crew made the day trip to France for EJC's first competition of the year. Harkirat had a good day, only losing the final to a girl from the home club. She took a silver. Eliot B was excellent, being at the bottom of the age band and still fighting extremely well, losing his final for another silver.

Ken was devastating, winning each of his five contests by ippon, with a different technique. Hence, he won the gold.

Well done to all three of them, they have started the tournament ball rolling in style.

20th January - Welsh u20 & Age Banded, Cardiff

It is a shame that this event is not as it always has been, an open under 16 - often talked about as the graveyard of National Champions. It is now an age banded event like any other and this year was further eroded by the implementation of the new under 12 rules. However, we went along to have a go, despite the clash with squad training on the same day.

There were some excellent performances on the day from our babies (the under 12s), who suffered greatly at the hands of inconsistent refereeing and various interpretations of the new rules. (I must add that we do not wholly blame the referees themselves but the way these rules have been distributed, changed and changed again has left everyone more than a little confused. Explaining to your children why the new rules you have taught them are not applied fairly is extremely difficult - it makes the coaches, referees and the Association look like an ass).

Harkirat fell foul of the rules in her first fight. She remained upright and tried a huge variety of techniques (all of which she was taught prior to the inception of these new rules), but was given a penalty early on for some other infringement. She desperately tried to even the score with a barage of attacks, but the opponent just kept dropping. The new rules guide the referees only to penalise with persistent offences and as the interpretation of persistent has not been made clear no penalty was given. The very negative judo of Harkirat's oppontent would, in the old rules, have been penalised, but now it is seen as winning judo. Anyway, Harkirat won her next 3 contests by ippon and took the silver. She was great.

Akhil fought well, getting to the semi final. He lost there though and had to settle for a bronze. Ken was his usual high-octane self and dealt with his group with relative ease to take a gold.

In the older age band and with the old and well worn rules in play our gang set to work. Megan and Rifqa ended up in the bronze fight together in the u48s. A couple of seois decided that contest in Rifqa's favour. Then Rohan was superb, winning his first 3 fights by ippon with excellent drop seoi nages. He narrowly lost the final on a 3 point penalty and went home with a great silver medal.

Having already entered the Midland Age Banded, coming up in the next few weeks, I was hopeful that the confusion at the Welsh would be eradicated and the rules would be clarified so as not to put these young fighters through the ordeal they suffered at the Welsh. We shall see.

28th January - Alpe Adria Trophy, Lignano, Italy

What a fantastic event. We loved it last year and it was even better this year, with quality fighters present from Greece, Slovenia, Slovakia and Belgium, to name but a few.

EJC had a highly successful weekend, taking a gold, 2 silvers and a 5th place, making us the 5th best club at the event, just place behind the Slovenian Natioanl Team. This gave us our first ever team trophy, which pleased me no end - didn't stop grinning for a week. I have to thank Rifqa for her silver, Rohan for his (should have been gold, but he was injured in his semi, despite winning it, and had to be withdrawn from the final)silver - he fought like a warrior. Megan was superb and was unjustly served up a 5th place - that bronze had her name on it! Lucy and Taku fought really well, but will have to wait for another year to try for the medals. And of course... a massive well done and thank you to Soraya for her gold. It was Soraya's first gold for over 2 years and probably her most deserved medal ever. She was awesome, fighting some girls who defied description - they were huge, really huge. She whipped each one over with her trademark seoi and smiles her way off the mat and on to the rostrum. The occasion was made extra special when the medals were presented by Olympic Champion Gamba.

3rd & 4th February - Midland Age Banded, Walsall

The 'A' Band rules were again ridiculous! I feel so sorry for all these great young fighters who are having to adapt their judo on a daily basis. It started with a coaches' meeting to explain the new rules - a good idea one would think, but for some reason the contests began before that meeting had come to a close and so most coaches had to leave to support their students.

In the under 32s both Phoebe and Harkirat ended the day in 5th place, having suffered losses at the hands of these damaging new rules. Both were caught early in fights with small scores. Remaining upright and dynamic they attacked with great heart and skill, but opponents kept on dropping to avoid being thrown and then attacked with drop-knee techniques. These drops were not punished as they would have been in the past (as the referees were unsure of what constituted 'persistent' dropping). This meant that both girls lost where in the past they would have won. Right or wrong this is poor sports psychology...

Akhil fought well, as has become the trend, but was not able to take a medal this time. Ken was a little complacent and learnt a lesson, losing his semi-final. He did, however win the bronze fight with a beautiful throw.

In the 'B' Band Rifqa was not on form, going out after only two bouts. Megan had a better day, but still no medal. Lucy fought excellently but lostnboththe semiand the bronze fight. Never mind-I amsure Lucy's day will come.

ThenonSundayonly Takufought. He failed his normalweight groupby200grams and fought66s for the day. Here he had 5 tough contests and ended up 7th.

11th February - Harlow Teams, Harlow, Essex

We had a fun day indeed. Maja fought in a yellow belt girlsgroup, with 2 of the Willesden girls. She foughtexcellentlyand the team took gold. Then Dominic fought in yellow belt and below boys team with 2 Willesden boys. He too fought very well and that team took silver.

Dominic & Ken joined a Willesden lad in a light weight any grade team and to be frank they lost! Oh well.

Harkirat & Soraya joined a Willesden girl in the light weight any grade team. They had a hard day, but won a bronze.

Our boys heavy weight any grade team, comprising Ken, Rohan & Taku, was pretty fine... They took out all the usual suspects from Pinewood and Harlow on the way to the final. And then ending the day without a single loss between them they finished Moberly off in the final. It was an excellent result. Well done to all our fighters today.

17th February - Inter-club Team Match, London

Another great day. I love team events and there just aren't enough of them around any more. They are a great vehicle for learning and always produce fantastic team spirit.

Our tiny mighties took on Pinewood and Willesden and actually the 3 teams all beat each other. After individual wins it was still tied and it all came down to points. Unfortunately that gave us the bronze, but my babies were wonderful and such a prospect for the future. Well done to Sam B, Showgo, Ali, Maxime and Mateo.

In the under 11 section Kai, Paul, Jack M, Jack B and Eliot also fought really well. They, too, came away with bronzes.

Then the under 13s were up - what a team: Harkirat(2006 National Champion), Conor (2006 National Bronze Medalist), Akhil, Ken (2005 & 2006 National Champion and Lucy (2005 National Silver Medalist). These fighters were awesome, between them disposing of the P{inewood team and the Willesden A & B teams. Conor and Ken were particularly exciting to watch - not losing a match between them. We took gold!

25th February - North-West Age-Banded, St Helens

Following 5 tough fights Taku finished his day in 7th place. He executed some excellent ne-waza along the way, but it wasn't enough for a rostrum place this time.

3rd March - Tigers & Red Belt Invitation, London

This was such a lovely day. Seventeen of our youngest and newest members came along to have a go in the tournament arena. They earned the following prizes:

GOLD Ibrahim Abdelaal
GOLD Amir Asgari
GOLD Ali Abdelaal
GOLD Kai Butcher
GOLD Paul Duarte
GOLD Yugo Kimura
SILVER Sam Butcher
SILVER Antoine Orieux
SILVER Matthew Butcher
SILVER Jack Beevers
SILVER Bojan Cecaric
SILVER Kristina Novakovic
BRONZE Kamran Hatami
BRONZE Matthieu Duarte
BRONZE Jamie Gould
BRONZE Jack Mouradian
BRONZE Johanna Barnes

Amir was also presented with an extra trophy for 'Outstanding Performance of the Day'

4th March - Tsu-Mo-Kie Championships, Epping

Kristina, Bojan and Meganall fought excellently to win their bronze medals today. They were backed by Phoebe, Rifqa & Lucy, who each took a silver. On the top spots today were Ken, Taku & Tom, who all won gold in their relevant weight groups.

Ken and Taku then went on to compete in a light and heavy (respectively) open section. Both boys won golds and fought superbly all day.

Well done to the whole team - it was a fantastic team performance.

10th March - Harlow Novice Championships, Essex

We had bronzes today from Paul, Matthew, Jack M and Jack B. All fought very well, especially considering it was Jack M, Matthew and Paul's very first tournament outside London. All 3 were nervous, but overcame their worries and learned lots throughout their day.

Kai also fought today and despite a confident and dynamic fighting style he narrowly lost the final. This gave him the silver. Well done all.

11th March - Clacton Under 12 & Under 16, Clacton, Essex

Kai had a tough day, compared to other events of late and came a little unstuck. No medal today, but lots to learn!

Kristina gave it everything and won a bronze. Phoebe, Soraya & Rifqa also took bronzes. For Soraya it was a bit of a strange day as was refereeing in the morning and then competing herself in the afternoon. An extra feather in her cap for multi-tasking so successfully!

Tom fought today too - his first event as an orange belt. He tried hard, but no medal this time.

Then Ken won an impressive 4 times with 4 ippons. He was fluid and confident and never looked for a moment like anything other than a winner.

18th March - Ipswich Senior & Veteran Open Championships

This was an excellent day for the EJC Adult class. Five came along to have a go in this excellent event. It was very well attended, possibly due to the unfortunate demise of the NHC & Southern Area Senior events this year.

John & Ikuo both fought the Senior Open section. Both fought well, but no medal there. Then Ikuo went on to fight in the Veteran Open grade section too. He won his second fight excellently and took the silver to boot.

Evelyne as our lone female ranger found it tough being the low grade in the group and also the lightest weight, but she didn't let that put her off and fought very well, taking a bronze in the process.

For Joe and Misha it was their first ever tournament. Both fought in the Novice-7th Kyu section (White to Orange belts). They put on a fantastic show and despite a few nerves both took gold - Joe at under 73kg and Misha in the over 90 kg group.

We would all like to thank Ipswich Judo Club for putting on yet another great senior event. This type of open club tournament is on the decline and we always have such a good time there. Long may this one continue.

21st March - Willesden Tiny Tots Easter Fun Day, London

Tiny baby Luke was wicked. Having been pushed over 3 times in his first 'contest' he confidently strode out on to the mat and told his second opponent "don't push me!" Luke's order was heeded and instead he was thrown for ippon! This gave little Luke a bronze.

Kamran & Matthieu were then both excellent. Each won both of their bouts and took golds.

Well done to all 3 boys.

22nd March - Ealing Judo Club's Easter Eggstravaganza, West Acton, London

Thirty of our marvellous young sportsters took to the mat for this fun home event. There was some wonderful judo from all who took part - I can't wait for this great group of young and talented fighters to get onto the competition circuit as red belts.

GOLD Sam Butcher
GOLD Showgo Kimura
GOLD Maxime Cacaly
GOLD Ali Abdelaal
GOLD Jonathan Sookias
GOLD Georgina White
GOLD Kai Butcher
GOLD Oliver Lythgoe
GOLD Jack Beevers
GOLD Yugo Kimura
SILVER Kiran de Silva
SILVER Andrew Aresti
SILVER Matthieu Duarte
SILVER Ibrahim Abdelaal
SILVER Antoine Orieux
SILVER Alexander Legon
SILVER Laurence Legon
SILVER Johanna Barnes
SILVER Matthew Butcher
SILVER Paul Duarte
SILVER Jack Mouradian
SILVER David Jacquemin
SILVER Bojan Cecaric
BRONZE Kamran Hatami
BRONZE James Sookias
BRONZE Lucas Orieux
BRONZE Amir Asgari
BRONZE Sam Lythgoe
BRONZE Pierre Maillefaud
BRONZE Mateo Ibanez

1st April - Olympia Trophy, Belgium

For Matthew B, Paul & Conor this was an international debut! All three boys were excited and each fought well. Matthew & Paul took bronzes and Conor had an excellent day, winning 4 contests by ippon to win the gold.

Kai and Ken were also with us, and in good form. Kai won a bronze and Ken won all his fights by ippon to win EJC's 2nd gold at the event.

8th April - Lommel International, Belgium

This was Rifqa's 2nd selection to fight for Great Britain. She tried hard, competing for the first time abroad in her new weight category, but no medal this time.

21st April - Lisburn Cup, Belfast, Northern Ireland

EJC took 7 excellent fighters to this lovely event, our first visit to Ireland since being founded in 2003.

Tom fought well in the u66kg category - no medal but still a productive day. Megan had a great day. She competed in 4 tough matches and after some gutsy, strategic fighting she came away with a well deserved bronze medal.

Rifqa and Soraya each worked hard in their respective groups. Both girls had challenging semis but overcame all difficulties to secure their places in the finals matches. Unfortunately both lost their, but silver was a good result for both of these improving competitors.

Harkirat, Ken and Taku were all in determined mood! Harkirat looked beaten in more than one of her contests but summoned some true grit to make brave come-backs. Ken looked unbeatable all day and Taku was in excellent spirits, fighting with flare and imagination. Despite a hard fought final he joined the other two on the top spot - all 3 won golds.

Well done to all of the team, including the parents who came along for moral support. It was an excellent weekend.

5th May - NHC Mini Teams, High Wycombe

Our Trojan team of Akhil, Harkirat, Conor, Ken and baby Luke (our joker) were fantastic. They really enjoyed their day, seeing off the Pinewood B team and Westcroft before losing the final to the Pinewood A team. Of particular note was Luke, the youngest joker at the event - just 2 years old. He bowed on and off the mat with perfect ettiquette and threw all opponents with a developing (and entertaining) o-uchi gari. There were a lot of 'Aahs' around the room. Well done to the whole team.

6th May - Peterborough Under 16

Only Ken and Rifqa decided to make the trip up the A1 today. Ken won a bronze and Rifqa missede out on the medals this time... next time...

13th May - 61 Club Junior Open, High Wycombe

Tom went out for his first fight with lots of movement and a clear desire to achieve a result. Unfortunately he landed awkwardly during this contest and had to withdraw.

Our 3 Muskateerettes, Megan, Rifqa & Lucy suffered today. All fought well, but didn't get the rub of the green.

Soraya & Rohan both fought very well and took bronzes for their trouble, while the rbothers Kawamoto took lumps out of their groups - each taking a gold home.

27th May - HT16 Cup, Hamburg, Germany

Harkirat was our lone ranger at this tough International meet. She had an excellent day, utilising some of her growing range of groundwork skills, to end up in 5th place - a satisfactory result and a great experience.

Harkirat enjoying some very posh ice-cream in Hamburg, after the event. A well deserved treat.

2-3rd June - Venray International, Holland

Our 6 intrepid European explorers taking a break on the way to Venray.

Jo & Rohan enjoying a wonderful Japanese meal the night before the tournament.

This weekend was a real adventure for some of our members. For Showgo it was his first time competing abroad and for Rohan & Akhil it was there first time competing in Holland.

Showgo was so brave. He won his first contest, having to come back from being a score down. A huge hip technique saw off his dutch adversary. Then he came up against the eventual group winner and was thrown. His next contest, in the repecharge was a against a Latvian boy and after much tooing and froing the Latvian won the bout by only a yuko score. This was the end of Showgo's day - he finished in 7th place - a fine result for his first exposure to events of this calibre.

Ken was up next next, fighting in a new age band. He had some real battles, but won his first three fights by ippon, two with some awesome groundwork. Then came the tallest, biggest Russian you have ever seen in the -42kg section. I have to say he took lumps out of Ken, eventually winning with a well rehearsed arm-lock. Ken took his revenge on the Dutch boy he had next, winning with a neat strangle. Then it was time to fight the Hungarian boy. Unfortunately his drop on his back and rip the arm out tactics worked and Ken lost this contest. Despite four excellent wins Ken came away with no placing this time.

Akhil had a good day, also a baby in his age band. He won two contests with some strong seoi nage work, but then went out to two tough Belgians.

Rohan fought very well, although has learned a little lesson about fitness! He beat a Dutch boy first fight and then had the seemingly unlucky draw to fight the Russian next. What a war... Rohan squashed everything the boy tried, saw off a couple of good strangle attempts and also managed to put in a few good attacks of his own. At the bell there was no score so it went on into Golden Score. Still it remained even, but with Rohan trying to stay standing and controlled as much as possible. He attacked and attacked but the Russian was as wily as Rohan, escaping everything. Eventually the second buzzer sounded and the referee indicated a decision - Rohan won it, a fantastic result!

Next he had the Belgian boy. Rohan, not yet recovered from his marathon in the previous round, succumbed to a speedy san gyaku on the ground. He then beat the Hungarian in another long contest, using some good foot work. Nextwas another Dutch opponent, but this one managed to catch Rohan right near the end of an even contest and he lost on a yuko.

Rohan had an excellent day of judo, beating the Russian and dealing with all of the arm-locks and strangles, that we of course, sadly, don't get to practise at domestic tournaments. It was a good performance.

Harkirat, an old hand at the European tournaments, was determined and skilled in her 3 tough contests. She won the quarter final with some superb groundwork, but this was followed by a loss to the eventual gold medalist. In her bronze fight it went right to the wire and was pretty even, but only a few seconds before the bell Harkirat countered a poor shoulder throw attempt and threw her German opponent for waza-ari witha beautifully timed te garuma. Suffice it to say that after coming 5th last year Harkirat was over the moon with her bronze medal.

On the Sunday only Taku fought for EJC and he did not disappoint. He had 6 fantastic contests and despite being a baby in this cadet age band he managed to secure himself a bronze, our second of the event.

9th June - London Youth Games, Crystal Palace

This was an excellent day for Ealing Judo Club. At this event players represent their borough rather than their club, but there were no other Ealing Clubs present so we were it! Our nine strong team put in a great performance. Conor and Akhil both fought in the 42s for the first time. Conor won his first but was then stopped in his tracks. Akhil, however, fought brilliantly and came back after a narrow loss to win the bronze. Ken also fought in this category and looking slightly off form he managed to scrape a path to the final, where he met an older boy, who beat him in golden score. This gave Ken the silver.

Rohan was our final boy of the day. He was stunning, whipping everyone over his well timed drop throws. He won every match with little problem, to take his second gold of the year so far.

On to the girls. Harkirat had a good day in the 32s, losing only the final, to bring home a silver medal. Phoebe fought in the 36s for the first time and took a bronze. Lucy won a bronze in her new weight group too. Megan fought excellently and after an avoidable loss in the semi had to settle for bronze.

Then there was Soraya! She weighed in 100 grams over her usual 44kg slot and had to vmove up into the 48s. A little daunted she took to the mat... but her confidence and experience shone through and she won all matches, three out of four by ippon and took the gold.

The whole team is looking forward to reading their write-up in the local paper, which should be in print this Friday. The Ealing Sports Development Team were very pleased with how we represented the borough, so well done to all who took part.

10th June - South of England Junior Open, Crawley

Just Rifqa and Lucy fought today. Both fought well and took bronzes for their trouble.

16th June - National Team Championships, Crawley

This is alwyas one of the most exciting events of the year and it was not to disappoint this time round. Taku was in the London Boys' Team. They won a bronze, which was a decent result for a young team.

The London Girls were a different matter though. Phoebe, Harkirat and Lucy were selected from EJC and all performed well. Their team mates from 5 other London clubs were also excellent and between them the girls managed to earn London its first girls' gold for 7 years. It was a fantastic result.

Below is the girls' team.

Little Luke entertaining the London & NHC junior teams.

17th June - West of England Junior Open, Gloucester

Harkirat had a good day, getting to the final with some particularly focussed fighting. She lost the final, but silver was a good result.

Akhil and Rohan each took a bronze. I think each could have won their respective groups but small slip ups in the earlier rounds made a final place impossible. Both fought excellently for the bronzes.

23rd June - Kent Junior International Open, Crystal Palace

Nine EJC fighters attended this event with me. Megan, Taku, Conor & Harkirat all fought well today. No medals for them this time, but some excellent judo.

Akhil had a great day in his new weight group. He lost his first contest on a penalty in golden score but came back to win three in a row in the repercharge. He looked focussed and fought intelligently, slightly changing his style for each opponent. However in his 4th contest he was hit in the face, by accident, and this meant he had to withdraw before the bronze fight. It was a gutsy performance from him.

Lucy was very strong in the orange and green belt u57kg group. After losing her first contest on the ground she threw the next two for ippon to take a well earned bronze.

Rifqa had a tough day up with the blues & browns. She worked really hard but a lack of fitness proved to be her biggest stumbling block. Like others today she lost her first fight but battled through another 3 tough contests to take a bronze.

Ken started well in this open u16 event. He got to the semi with relevant comfort, but met an old adversary there who wasn't going to give up a place in the final too easily. It went into golden score, but some fast foot work from Ken levelled his rival for ippon to take Ken into the final. There he met the excellent Rupinskas from East London/Latvia. They had a marathon battle and it was pretty even right to the wire. In golden score both boys attacked furiously. Ken put in a strike and the referee called yuko. The fight was ours... until the corner judges waved it off. Ken had already relaxed, relieved and when the referee called hajime again he was instantly thrown for a koka and had to settle for a hard-to-stomach silver. Never mind, the fight was fantastic training - a really good experience.

Rohan, our last man standing, was on outstanding form today. His normal scoring techniques were in full force as he made his way steadily to the final. He looked unstoppable. The Midlander he faced in the final knew what to expect and wasn't falling for it so easily so Rohan had his work cut out here. He stayed calm and focussed throughout and finally, in golden score, won the bout on a koka. A gold for Rohan to finish the day.

30th June - Willesden Summer Championships for Beginners

The following children came along to compete in this event, and as usual they did us proud...

GOLD James Sookias
GOLD Kai Butcher
GOLD Laurence Legon
GOLD David Sookias
SILVER Luke Davies
SILVER Marius Maillefaud
SILVER Andrew Aresti
SILVER Ibrahim Abdelaal
SILVER Pierre Maillefaud
SILVER Alexander Legon
SILVER Bojan Cecaric
SILVER Kristina Novakovic
SILVER Johanna Barnes
BRONZE Kiran de Silva
BRONZE Amir Asgari
BRONZE Jonathan Sookias
BRONZE Luka Kljutic
BRONZE Popi Aresti
BRONZE Matthew Butcher
BRONZE Jack Mouradian

They all showed great skill and fighting spirit. Well done to all of our future stars.