MATCH REPORTS Jan - Jun 2010

16th-17th January - Dutch Espoir, Holland

Eliot fought very well in his first tournament of the year, winning two great contests and then losing two. This left him with a very credible 7th place at this very tough Dutch competition. Harkirat also ended her campaign in 7th place.

23rd January - Antwerp International Open, Belgium

Only Phoebe made it out to Belgium for this great international meet. She fought hard but was taken out in ne-waza.

23rd January - IAPS Championships, High Wycombe

Lucy was our lone ranger at this event and she won it with ease, scoring 4 ippons out of 4 contests, with a total fighting time of 22 seconds. Way to go Lucy, a great first gold of the year!

31st January - Midland Age Banded, Walsall

Akhil made the trip to the Midlands, where he fought very well and gained a 5th place at the event. He is now looking forward to the North-West Age Banded in February.

14th February - Northbrook Mini-Mon, Kent

Our two fighters had an excellent day today, each getting to the final. Showgo had 4 contests and won 3 of them with some superb and exciting judo. In the final against the current National Champion he took the upper hand with some excellent gripping, but couldn't maintain it. He was beaten by the more experienced fighter and had to be satisfied with his silver. Lucy K won her first contest quickly and easily, with two waza-aris. In her second contest she changed styles, trying new techniques and still won by ippon. This, of course, gave Lucy the gold.

Both fighters fought confidently and with capability beyond their years. Very well done to both.

14th March - South of England Junior Open, Crawley

Jamie travelled to this event and fought 3 tough fights, winning a bronze for his trouble.

14th March - Ipswich Senior Open, Suffolk

We had a pretty good day overall at a really well entered event. In the high grade section Rifqa, Martin and Rohan had it hard and none were able to secure a win. However Lyam had a very good day, winning some hard bouts. He picked up 20 points and was placed 5th in a large group.

In the blue and green belt section Jason started really well and finished his day with a silver. Sevani looked on good form but lost the semi after a lapse in concentration. He won a bronze.

Martin then had another crack - this time in the Masters section. Here was able to demonstrate a more relaxed style and won himself a bronze medal.

Well done to the whole team. Below: Jason, Martin and Sevani with their medals.

20th March - British Schools Championships, Sheffield

Congratulations to Jamie who represented both his school and our club at this National event. He fought superbly and finished his day with a more than commendable silver. Very well done.

27th-28th March - Kempen Cup, Herentals, Belgium

A good weekend was had by all at this excellent event. On the first day Harkirat started superbly, throwing her first opponent for ippon in just a few short seconds. However in her semi final she was out-gripped by a strong Belgian opponent. She missed out on the bronze and ended her day in 5th place.

On day 2 Chris and Niamh Corrigan both fought excellently. Niamh battled through 3 tough contests and came away with a bronze. Chris also had 3 fights, winning two and losing the final narrowly. A silver was his reward for a very good performance.

28th March - North of England Junior Open, Bradford

GOLD Lucy King
SILVER Jamie King

11th April - High Wycombe Ne-waza Championships

Lyam won a silver. Martin won both a silver and a bronze and Sevani had a tough day and will be looking for a medal at next year's event.

25th April - Thomas Deacon under 20 Championships, Peterborough

Under 12
GOLD Lucy King
GOLD Luka Kljutic
BRONZE Christopher Corrigan
BRONZE Erik Gee

Under 16
GOLD Akhil Bist
BRONZE Daniel Vary
BRONZE Harkirat Sekhon
BRONZE Jamie King

Under 20
GOLD Harkirat Sekhon
SILVER Rohan Bist
BRONZE Akhil Bist

We had such a good day - seems like ages since we have all been out together to a domestic comp. Well done to everyone who fought, all came away with a medal and most gave good performances too.

1st & 2nd May - St Petersburg Olympic Hopes Tournament, Russia

A hard tournament and an eye-opening experience! Harkirat and Akhil made the long trip to Russia for this high level international competition. There were entries from all over Europe, including Greece, Ukraine, Belarus, Croatia, Holland, Slovakia and Kazakhstan (Asia).

Both our fighters, over the two daysw, fought in the under 17 and under 20 age bands. Akhil had it particularly hard. He won his first contest in each age band, pulling off a brilliant arm lock in the u20. He then lost his 2nd contests and his opponents did not make it to the semis so there ended his events. He performed well and as usual was unphased by the different styles of judo or the surroundings.

Harkirat is experiencing a return to form following a lull. Her efforty last week in Peterborough really did give her a great platform from which to leap into this tournament. In the u17 section she had 3 tough fights and came away with a bronze. Then in the u20 with fewer entries she managed a silver.

I am sure the two EJC fighters will agree it was a valuable experience (although I don't think any of us will be able to stomach fried chicken or macaroni for a while!!).

2nd May - London Age Banded, Crystal Palace

GOLD Lucy King
BRONZE Sam Gulaidi-Breen
BRONZE Luka Kljutic
BRONZE Alaniese Breen

A good event that gave our group a great training experience. Chris, Jamie and Mason also fought but were unable to medal this time. A special well done to Sam, who found his feet at last and pulled off some great throws. Well done to all.

9th May - 61 Club Junior Open, High Wycombe

Our Jamie fought out the under 16 -60kg category, to its end, winning 3 contests before losing in the final. This gave Jamie another excellent silver medal to add to his numerous recent achievements.

9th May - North of England Mini-Mon and Senior Championships, Bradford

In the Mini Mon section Blake GB and Nathan B fought well to earn a silver and a bronze respectively, while Ibrahim suffered at the hands of his own inexperience and came away without a prize. He is, however, keen to gain the experience necessary to begin to win medals now he is a yellow belt.

In the senior low grade section Sam GB and Jason Tran argued it out in the -66kg section, to gain a silver and a bronze respectively. They both lost to training partner Daniel Woodhouse, of Willesden, who eventually won the gold.

In the high grade section John H lost a shot at the medals through lapses in concentration. However Lyam won 4 excellent contests, with some flowing and explosive judo, to take him into the final. There he was stopped in his tracks, taken by surprise early in the fight. Lyam won a silver and should be pleased with his performance.

17th May - Ealing Judo Club May Madness, West Acton, London

GOLD Luke Davies
GOLD Sofija Bojat
GOLD Herbie O'Keeffe
GOLD George Rowan
SILVER Dylan Pascoe-Ericsson
SILVER Amir Asgari
SILVER Niamh Corrigan
SILVER Teodora Amanovic
SILVER Sam Butcher
SILVER Tohgo Kimura
SILVER Artie O'Keeffe
SILVER Orin O'Hanlon
SILVER Sasha Derkach
SILVER Bosco D'Aligny
BRONZE Jack Vaughan
BRONZE Matteo Russo
BRONZE Kamran Hatami

Below: Tohgo gets some tips from big brother, Showgo.

Bottom: Ashley McKenzie presents medals to the tiniest little fighters of the day.

22nd May - High Wycombe Masters, Buckinghamshire

In the open grade section for men aged 40-44 Mike had 3 contests and won a bronze. It was his debut event and he is now eager to do more! In the +100 kg section Ndu took to the mat, with his green belt! He beat a black belt on his way to an excellent silver.

Below: Ndu on the rostrum.

23rd May - Northern Home Counties Red Belt Championships

Two newcomers to Ealing Judo Club medalled at their open tournament debut, at this well established event. Sofija Bojat fought excellently and claimed a bronze medal and George Rowan fought the big group of under 33kg adn won it in good style - two very promising talents for the future.

The EJC team also included Tohgo, Matteo and Kiran who gave superb performances, with only a lack of experience holding them back. All 3 came close to medals and look ready to up the workload to achieve greater success next time. Marko and Niamh had a tough day and arre coming back to the club to train a little bit harder in order to make further progress.

29th May - London Senior Open at the Seni, Docklands, London

Lyam, John and Sevani had a disappointing day today. There were fights that should have been won but a lack of sharpness made it impossible. More time also needed in training for ne-waza. Never mind... there's always a next time.

30th May - Venray International, Holland

Akhil made the trip to this excellent event. He was in fantastic form, winning his first 3 contests. In fight 4 however he was robbed by the referees, horiffically. It was so bad that the head referee and the mat referee came to spologise! As appreciated as the apology was, sadly the result could not be overturned, as is the way in judo, so Akhil went into the repercharge. There he found it difficult to regain his composure and went out next contest. He placed 7th, which although a decent result in a group of 55 players, was not satisfactory - Akhil had prepared well and had a medal in his sights, but poor refereeing took it away.

I have to say that it is not aften that a referee apologises and so I take my hat off to him for doing so on this occasion. It is important that officials realise their decisions are not always the right ones, just as players have to.

5th June - Northern Home Counties Mini-Mon, High Wycombe

An excellent day from our 3 intrepid yellow belts. Blake was on fabulous form, winning each contest with stylish and determined judo. He won the gold convincingly, looking unstoppable throughout. Ibrahim rose to the occasion, his first open tournament as a yellow belt - he fought as well as I have ever seen him fight and came away with a superb bronze. Chris also fought hard and in a large group placed 5th, narrowly losing for the bronze. Well done EJC boys.

6th June - Luxembourg Youth International Tournament, Dudelange, Luxembourg

A really friendly and truly international tournament, with large teams from France, Germany and Turkey as well as the Dutch, Belgian nad Luxembourg groups.

Our 5 fighters put in an admirable display with Sofija, little Blake and Mason all winning gold. Showgo won some tough contests and in fact only lost to our own Mason, to come away with silver. Maxime, following a long break from competition, fought with great heart and won a bronze for his efforts.

Well done to the fighters and also to the parents, who worked extra hard to make this trip a success.

12th June - London Trials for the National Team Championships, East Ham

CADETS
GOLD Phoebe Harris
GOLD Alaniese Breen
GOLD Akhil Bist
GOLD Eliot Bradford
GOLD Laurence Legon
BRONZE Conor Corrigan
BRONZE Jamie King
BRONZE Sam Gulaidi-Breen

JUNIORS
GOLD Rifqa Samad

SENIORS
GOLD Ndu Wodu
SILVER Lyam Quin

13th June - Goole Senior Open, Yorkshire

We had an excellent day today with Ndu winning gold in the Kyu grade section and then a bronze in the open grade section. Sam put in a brilliant, determined performance to take silver in the kyu grade section. In fact there was a clear winner in his group and Sam and two others were all tied on wins and points and so there was a re-fight for the silver medal. Sam really had to dig in to win two tough contests, and dig in he did!

In the open grade group Lyam had mixed fortunes. He threw with some lovely judo towards the end of his day but not being sharp in the early rounds put blockers on the gold. He won the bronze and is now looking forward to having another go at the Hampshire Senior Open in a couple of weeks time.

19th June - London Youth Games, Crystal Palace

Our youngsters, with help from a couple of the YMCA girls, had a pretty good day at the palace. Each year we go out there believing our team to be a bit small to do really well and every year we prove ourselves wrong. This year was no exception: our girls finished the day 3rd out of the 28 boroughs which took part. The boys finished in the top ten too.

From Ealing Judo Club Alexander had his first run out at the Youth Games and although he didn't place he did improve from fight to fight - can't ask much more than that. His brother Laurence had a more positive result, finishing his day in 5th place. David fought very well, in his first tournament for quite a while and he won a bronze medal, to go with his silver from last year's event.

Daniel V was on fantastic form! He threw 2 out of 3 for ippon and although his fellow-finalist was tough and very strong Daniel still put in a great performance to win a silver medal. His progress has been quite marked over the last year.

Our girls were excellent too, with Soraya Asgari winning her third bronze in as many years at the event. Hanna had a good go at it in the bigggest girls' group of the day - no placing but still earned a point for the borouigh team.

Then two of our most experienced girls took to the mat; Harkirat and Rifqa were devastating, winning each match by the maximum score of ippon. Two great fighters: two great gold medals.

Above: Some of the Ealing team - Boys were Laurence Legon, David Sookias and Daniel Vary. Girls were Rifqa Samad, Soraya Asgari and Harkirat Sekhon. Our team mascot for the day was little Jack Vary (front and centre).

Our great club also had members fighting for the Borough of Brent. Alaniese and Allegra ploughed through the challengers in the u63 category and won gold and silver respectively. Sam had a tough day considering his recent excellent form and came away with a credible 5th place.

20th June - Nottingham Junior Open

Just listing results is not our usual style but so many of our talented bunch did so well that I have to list it out.

Under 12
GOLD Lucy King
GOLD Blake Gulaidi-Barber
GOLD Mason Gulaidi-Barber
GOLD Ali Abdelaal
SILVER George Rowan
SILVER Blake Inniss
BRONZE Luka Kljutic

Ibrahim also did well to place 7th in a large group, where his older team-mates won gold and silver.

Under 16
SILVER Lucy King
SILVER Alaniese Breen
BRONZE Harkirat Sekhon
BRONZE Phoebe Harris
BRONZE Allegra Inniss
BRONZE Jamie King
BRONZE Sam Gulaidi-Breen

It was a fantastic day with so many outstanding performances, too many to mention them all. Lucy fought in the older age band in order to gain experience and ended up in the final - Wow! Little George at only his 3rd tournament, making it into the final of the massive 34kg group. Blake Inniss with so many technical improvements since his last outing. Ali winning gold at his first tournament for 8 months. The mature confidence and technical range displayed by young Mason: all so good.

Well done to the whole team. It was a great day, showing how fantastic EJC really is.

26 & 27th June - Kent International, Crystal Palace

We have had a seriously tough weekend and have picked up relatively few medals for our trouble. In the yellow belt section little Blake, Ibrahim, Erik and Chris each only managed one win. Chris started quite strongly but was unable to sustain it. Blake was uncharacteristically lethargic. Also, the Dutch opposition did not seem to be sticking to the grade restrictions for each group! However, our one shining light and saviour was Hani'el, who won a silver in the open weight.

In the orange and green belt group Daniel had to withdraw after his first contest. Jezza tried hard but was unable to claim a result. Luka fought excellently and well beyond his years but it wasn't enough for a rsotrum spot. Alaniese did well, winning a bronze medal and Hanna was unable to get out of her pool. Little Lucy had an uphill battle against much older opposition. Mason and Showgo were both superb and managed to win 2 fights each, against boys who should have trounced them on paper... They placed 9th and 7th respectively in a large category.

Our blue and brown belts had a little more luck - Harkirat won a bronze in the 44s and Akhil destroyed all in his path in the under 60kg section. Jamie and Phoebe were unable to secure a win this time.

My view on it is that our team has a lot of talent but the only way to maximise it is to train frequently, regularly and with great heart. There are times when most players have a lull in momentum but this must not be allowed to become the norm. Some of our guys train hard 90% of the time but others 'rest' more often than is adviseable. A little more training wouldn't do any harm at all!