MATCH REPORTS Jul-Dec 2011

2nd July - Northern Home Counties Split Grade Championships, High Wycombe

Above L-R: Bekkaiyr, Erik, Chris, Mason, Alaniese, Remi & Paul

We had an excellent day at this popular competition venue. Kicking off with the Mini-Mon section; Sofija and Erik won bronzes, Bekkaiyr just missed out and Christopher took a long-awaited gold. Chris was determined, focussed and positive and we are all super proud of this achievement. He works so hard and it is always rewarding to see the youngsters benefit in line with their work rate.

In the green to brown belt section Remi was on great form, winning gold, while Mason had a blinder, beating national medalists from the age band above, to get into the final. There he lost out to a visitor who has been staying with us from France and he had to settle for a silver. Mason was very pleased with his performance today and so he should be! Alaniese won a bronze in the high grade section too.

In the senior group Mark and Joe each won gold in their respective groups. The whole team put in fantastic performances today and long may it continue.

3rd July - Osterley Invitation, Middlesex

Above: Jo with Luke, Peter and a good hoarde of prizes!

Our tiny mighties were on simply the finest form today. 18 of them took to the mat to battle it out with children from 6 other clubs, aiming for the Best Club trophy. Our results:

GOLD Peter Davies
GOLD Megan Walmsley
GOLD Michael Rice
GOLD Luke Davies
GOLD Michael O'Toole
GOLD Damian Wolodkiewicz
SILVER Alessio Martinelli
SILVER Paige Bartlett
SILVER Hollie Walmsley
SILVER Jack Vary
BRONZE Patrick Grochowski
BRONZE Joshua
BRONZE Shanai Carter
BRONZE Caoimhe Earles
BRONZE Zechariah
BRONZE Mateusz Grochowski
BRONZE Yohta Kimishima
BRONZE Marius Maillefaud

Luke won a 'Best Ippon of the Day' trophy and EJC did win the 'Best Club' award. I was very proud of the effort our little ones put in - they displayed some terrific judo and fighting spirit. Thanks to the parents and other supporters too.

9th July - National Team Championships, Sheffield

This was another great day for the Ealing girls and for the London girls on the whole. The London team comprised under 44kg Hayley Willis (Stratford's recent European Cadet bronze medalist), our Harkirqt at u48kg, our Phoebe and another London girl, Roxanne Bakker, at 52s, Enfield's Any Thompson at u57kg, our Nekoda Davis at u63kg, Prisca Awiti from Enfield at 70s and our Lucy Chamberlain at over 70kg. With 4 out of the 7 girls from our little West London family club we had a bit to prove. And prove it, we did. Nekoda didn't lose a contest - in fact she won them all by ippon. Harkirat was astounding in our final and really turned the tables to our benefit. All of the girls did their job. We won our pool and then our semi, which was particularly satisfying as it was against old rivals, the NHC. We then won the final against the skillful Midlands team on points only, to take a much covetted gold.

This was our 2nd year on the trot to take this title. These talented youngsters then took a step forward in their development and filled spots in the London Senior Women's team too. Well done to our Nekoda and Lucy for that. It was not easy and you both did well. No medal for the women, but our women's team looks to be awesome in years to come.

10th July - West of England Junior Open and Senior ranking tournament, Swindon

In the senior group John was disappointed to win a medal at u73s, but is sure to build upon it at the British Masters in a week's time. Joe fought well in the 66s and placed 7th - this is his first placing at a senior national ranking event.

In the junior sections Sofija finally beat her recent nemesis with great game play and composure to win gold in the ever-busy girls under 32kg group. Little Ali just missed out on a medal, as did Ibrahim, who had to settle for 5th place. Ibrahim's big brother Ali, however, fought very well and took a bronze in a challenging category. Well done to the whole group; you made it a good day.

16th & 17th July - US Junior Open, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, America

Our team was so unified and focussed on this exciting adventure to the Americas, the first trip of its kind in the club's 8 year history. Our results were as follows:

SATURDAY
BRONZE Luke Davies (Bantam)
BRONZE Conor Corrigan (Cadet)
BRONZE Eliot Bradford (Cadet)
5th place Harkirat Sekhon (Cadet)
Akhil and little Ken also fought but without result.

SUNDAY
GOLD Nekoda Davis (IJF u20)
5th place Harkirat Sekhon (IJF u20)
7th place Conor Corrigan (IJF u20)
Oscar also fought bravely, at his first international tournament, in the Intermediate section.

17th July - British Masters Championships, Walsall

Above: Lyam and John with EJC's good friend Karim.

Lyam and John have been working really hard in the lead up to this event. So it is my pleasure to congratulate them on their silver and bronze medals, respectively. Well done lads. These medals represent our best male competitor at Masters level, in Lyam. And John is our 25th National medalist - a quarter of a century!

23rd July - Harlow Treble T, Red Belt & Yellow Belt Championships, Essex

We had twelve tiny mighties fighting bravely in Essex today. Our results were as follows:

GOLD Michael O'Toole
SILVER Peter Davies
SILVER Sasha Derkach
SILVER Ali Salhab
SILVER Salim Salhab
BRONZE Luke Davies
BRONZE Freddie Flowers
BRONZE Mateusz Grochowski
BRONZE Louis Phipps
BRONZE Amir Asgari
BRONZE James Sookias

Particular congratulations must go to Louis, for whom this was a debut performance and also to Sasha, who fought so hard as a tiny mighty in a red belt group. Great work boys - keep it up!

30th July - Czech Junior (u20) European Cup, Prague, Czech Republic

Nekoda Davis represented Great Britain at this well attended European Cup, a qualifier for the European Junior Championships. She fought well but did not place.

20th August - Lakeland Open, Kendal, Cumbria

There was a disappointing turnout at Lakeland this year. It is a shame because there are so few events in August. The Lakeland Open deserves support and I hope it is well attended next year.

Anyway, well done to Daniel Woodhouse who fought for the first time in a year and won himself a bronze. Phoebe and Harkirat each won a silver in their own weight groups and then also won a bronze in the Girls' lightweight open section.

3rd September - High Wycombe Mini-Mon

Little Megan came for her first outing as a red belt and was totally awesome! Despite being 6kg lighter than the lightest weight group on the day she battled to an outstanding bronze medal. Her sister Hollie repeated the result in a higher category and then Michael O and James S followed suit. Little Jack Vary did the business ina huge group and won a silver too. A second club silver was won by Niamh in her new weight group: a good, confident performance. Oscar narrowly missed out on the wins needed for a rostrum finished, as did Kiran. It was Kiran's best performance to date and he made clear improvements during the day. Well done to all our tiny mighties.

9th & 10th September - Heart of England, Walsall, Midlands

We had an excellent weekend in Walsall. It was a difficult tournament to navigate with a strange layout of mat areas and far too many people for the space but the level was high and the EJC massive stepped up to the plate.

On Saturday Chris and Erik started their respective campaigns positively with wins early on but went out later on. Chris put in a particularly good perforamnce finishing in 5th place, in a new weight group. Daniel V finished 7th. Mason was unlucky not to place but produced some encouraging judo. Eoghan fought impressively and despite 3 good wins had to settle for a 7th place finish: a good result considering how huge the group was. Eliot won a bronze, which he is hoping to build on at the British Championships. And finally, for day 1, there was the warrior that is Blake Inniss. What a performance - his best ever. With a perfect attitude and some fantastic, clever judo he stormed his was on to the rostrum in 3rd place - a fantastic bronze medal and some valuable ranking points.

Sunday was also a very positive day. Our u20 boys put in a great effort. With Sam, Daniel W and Conor all in the u73kg group... along with about another 50 boys, it was always going to be tough, but they did themselves proud. No medals, however, Daniel was particularly impressive, with some massive throws. He made it into the last 16 but faultered there. Phoebe had some tough breaks in the 52s, losing by decision a contest that we thought she had sewn up. Harkirat, however, had an excellent day. She put in one of her best performances to date to take two excellent wins in the senior women's u48s, only losing the final to seasoned international, Farbon. A silver gives her more ranking points towards the senior trials and valuable experience. Tired from her morning's work she then went on to also take a bronze in the u20 -48kg group too. She had an outstanding day.

Above: Harkirat on the rostrum at the Heart of England Senior event.

24th September - Mini Pot Van Olen, Belgium

We had another fun-filled weekend trip to Belgium, to this friendly, well run tournament. We seem to be making it an essential part of our annual calendar now. There were good performances from all: little Blake and his brother Mason each won gold, Erik won a silver and James S won a bronze.

25th September - Devizes Annual Tournament, Wiltshire

We had a very positive day in Wiltshire. Of the 20 players who fought exactly half medalled, with golds from little Blake, Showgo and Harkirat (who beat a 5th Dan along the way). There were silvers for Jack Vary, Pierre and Alaniese (who, for me, gave the throw of the tournament). Bronzes were presented to Kiran, Mason, David and Phoebe. Well done to the whole team for bringing back the title of 3rd best club at the event too.

Tohgo, Michael O, Chris, Ali A, Blake I, Luka, Eliot, Daniel V, Joe & Daniel W all supported their team-mates well.

2nd October - Epping Championships

Well done to Marius, James S, Damian and Ibrahim for their good performances. Despite not winning medals they were an important part of our team.

GOLD Tohgo
GOLD little Blake
GOLD Sofija
GOLD Mason
GOLD Christopher
GOLD Erik
GOLD Simon
GOLD Phoebe
GOLD Eliot
GOLD Harkirat
GOLD Daniel W
SILVER Luke D
SILVER Showgo
SILVER Ali A
SILVER Pierre
SILVER Eoghan
SILVER Sasha
SILVER Jeremy
SILVER Mark
SILVER Sam
SILVER Eoghan (senior)
SILVER Lukasz
SILVER Eliot (senior)
BRONZE Jack Vary
BRONZE Michael O
BRONZE Daniel V
BRONZE Ndu
BRONZE Daniel V (senior)

8th October - Kyu Grade Cup, High Wycombe, Bucks

The Kyu Grade Cup is always a positive event, with sportsmanship in abundance. Our 7 fighter team put in spirited performances. Joe, Mark, Eliot and Martin were unlucky not to medal. Phoebe won a gold, while Ndu and Daniel W each won silver.

At the end of the event a grading was held for the 1st Kyus, although there were no women present for Phoebe, sadly. The men had a great day and with tournament and grading combined Daniel won all of the 33 points needed for his first Dan and Ndu completed his line up, at his first attempt. Martin won ten points and Eliot won 50. Joe also won his first 10. A great day was had by all.

9th October - British 'A' Band Championships, Nottingham

It is fair to say the whole team was a little deflated by the final results, however all are motivated to continue with their training programme as overall the whole gang looked fitter, stronger and more technically proficient. Sofija won her first National medal, a bronze, while little Blake and Pierre each placed 5th. James put in his best ever performance and was happy with his placing of 9th. Ibrahim and Tohgo also learned lots today and are looking forward to the next few years at this level.

15th & 16th October - British Championships, Sheffield

The first and most important part of our match report has to be to congratulate everyone involved with Ealing Judo Club for the tremendous team spirit shown this weekend. It is the strongest it has ever been and that comes from hard work, trust, honesty, understanding and shared goals.

Moving on to results and performances: Congratulations to Ali A, Maxime, Chris, Erik, David, Eoghan, Daniel V, Akhil, Sam, Daniel W, Harkirat and Phoebe for their gutsy and determined performances on this most pressured of judo stages.

Showgo and Mason battled it out together in the large group of pre-cadet u38kg boys. Each lost one fight in the early rounds but at different stages and sadly for them ended up fighting each other for the bronze. The upside is that it shows how amazing both boys were, to see them both go out for medal fights. Mason took the win and the bronze with a yuko late on and left Showgo in a very credible 5th place. It's so encouraging to see these boys come up into both a new weight category and age group and still make it to the top.

Also in the pre-cadet group was Blake Inniss, still reeling from his outstanding performance and bronze medal at the Heart of England. He had a bye into the 2nd round of the u55kg group but won his quarter final with a stunning ippon throw, to take him into the semi-final. He didn't know the next contest could take him into the British Championship final but another ippon win took him there with relative ease. His reaction to finding himself in the final was lovely with a huge grin remaining on his face for the rest of the day. He smiled through the final and grinned when receiving his silver medal, his first national medal. He smiled all the way home and is probably still smiling now, and so he should be. He has worked hard and made improvements and his reward was thoroughly deserved!

Then in the cadet age band, -90kg Eliot, now a serial medal-winner at this event, put out a great performance beating boys he had previously lost to this year, to win a silver medal. This is his 3rd silver in a row and he is really pleased that an extra effort in training this year has paid off.

On the back of their performances at the Nationals (and at the Heart of England) Mason, big Blake, Eliot and Harkirat have all been selected to be members of the England Squad and all at EJC are extremely proud of what they have achieved.

22nd October - Irish Open

Joe fought well in the u20 section and the Seniors and pulled off a 5th place in the latter.

23rd October - EJC Ne-waza Training Event, Ealing, London

Section 1
GOLD Aum Patel
GOLD Luke Davies
SILVER Peter Davies
SILVER Paige Bartlett
SILVER Tyler Offiah
BRONZE Patrick Grochowski
BRONZE Caoimhe Earles
BRONZE Mihailo Bojat

Section 2
GOLD Sofija Bojat
GOLD Michael O'Toole
GOLD Fearghal Jeffreys
GOLD Damian Wolodkiewicz
SILVER Tarek Jaafar
SILVER Marius Maillefaud
SILVER Nikita Rybalka
SILVER Sasha Derkach
SILVER Lorcan Jeffreys
BRONZE Michael Rice
BRONZE Mateusz Grochowski
BRONZE Luke Polmear
BRONZE Eivinas Duda

Section 3
GOLD Erik Gee
SILVER Pierre Maillefaud
BRONZE Omar Mansouri

Seniors
GOLD Lyam Quin
SILVER Mark Scarman
BRONZE Regis Rolnin
BRONZE Lukasz Czyzewski

With special thanks to Nekoda Davis, Daniel Vary, Conor Corrigan and Lyam Quin for making this a smooth and fun event.

Our Mini-Mon section with their trophies. Well done tiny mighties.

29th & 30th October - Southend International Tournament, Southend, Essex

On Saturday each and every EJC fighter put in awesome perforamnces and each and every EJC fighter came away with a bronze - a strange and probably unrepeatable set of results. Congratualtions to Mason, Remi, Daniel V, Lyam & Lukasz.

Then on Sunday our 3 monsters all made it into the finals, with Pierre taking a well-deserved silver and little Blake and Sofija each storming to all-ippon golds.

It was an enjoyable weekend for the whole team, including coach Lyam.

30th October - Flanders Cup, Lommel, Belgium

Harkirat, Conor and Eliot all travelled with the England Squad this weekend, to compete at the increasingly tough Flanders Cup in Belgium. This event hosted teams including those from Holland, Luxembourg, Greece, Israel, Latvia, Norway and even America. It was very tiough and our fighters fought well. As their first time travelling abroad it was a positive experience. None made it to the rostrum... but they weren't far off.

13th November - Samurai High Grades, Kidderminster, Midlands

Daniel Woodhouse made the journey to Kidderminster and won himself a bronze medal and a bucket load of points towards his next grade. Well done Daniel.

20th November - Trappes International Tournament, Versailles, France

We had a great weekend in France, with a lovely late weigh in on Sunday and some rare relaxation on Saturday. Once at the tournament the team worked hard and fought well. Erik gave it a go in the huge u50kg pre-cadet group. No medal this time though.

In the younger 'A' band section Sofija and Pierre were unstoppable winning each of their 3 contests by ippon - a gold apiece! Little Blake also fought very well against tough oppostition and finished the day with a worthy silver medal.

Congratulations to the whole gang and also to the supportive and united parents.

26th November - South of England Junior & Youth Open, Portsmouth

We had a great day in Portsmouth, with some fabulous performances and perfect support from our parents.

Little James Sookias won 2 tough fights but just missed out on the medals, placing 5th. Erik and Luka won bronzes with consistent judo. Little Blake had a superb day, beating opposition he has only lost to before and maintaining a mature athlete's attitude, to also come away with a bronze.

Mason and Sofija each looked a different class, taking their groups by storm. Each won every contest convincingly, including a 2 second ippon from Mason with a stunning tai-otoshi. Needless to say each won gold in their respective group.

The event was run smoothly with positive and helpful referees making the day even more clean.

27th November - London Youth Games Feeder Event, Brunel University, Uxbridge

We had a very good day today at Brunel, with 11 EJC youngsters beating the nerves in this development tournament. In the red belt section Marius and Mateusz won bronzes, as did Lilia in her first competitive outing. Sasha had 5 incredibly tough contests and took a couple of great wins to secure his bronze too.

Also in the red belt group Jack Vary won an encouraging silver medal while the two Michaels (Rice and O'Toole) each won a gold. Master O'Toole was in excellent form too, winning each contest by the maximum score of ippon.

Our yellow belts looked strong from the outset and lived up to expectations, with some excellent wins. Amir and Bekkaiyr won silvers, while Damian extended his gold streak. It was a great team effort.

4th December - Classmaster Christmas Championships, Tunbridge Wells, Kent

Brothers, Luke and Peter Davies went along for a little run out and each came home with a medal. Peter won a bronze in a group of very strong boys, while Luke won his 4 contests in a total of 8 seconds, to win a well-deserved gold medal. Congratulations boys!

10th & 11th December - England Trials for the Commonwealth Tournament

Following the trials Harkirat has been selected to represent Great Britain at the Commonwealth Tournament in January. Daniel Vary and Akhil missed out narrowly, placing 3rd at the trials. Ndu fought well but withdrew part way through the event on medical advice.

17th December - Lummen International, Belgium

This was another great trip on to the continent for the EJC mighties, but this time with 3 fighting for the first time outside of the UK. Little Damian had 4 really tough fights, including 2 against Belgian champions. He finished just short of the medals but worked his socks off and is determined to come again and improve further. Joe also had it hard, but finished his trip with a bronze medal.

A second EJC bronze was given out to Omar, who despite his inexperience fought well, learned a huge amount and he should be very proud of his performance. Also in great form was our more experienced Daniel V, who won a bronze in the Cadet age band.

The well seasoned Harkirat Sekhon took to the mat in both the Cadet age band and in the seniors, winning a gold and a silver respectively. It was a gutsy and determined performance from this rising young star. So we came home with a bucket full of medals, some great team spirit and another good weekend's work done. Well done!