MATCH REPORTS Jul - Dec 2019

13th July - High Wycombe Ne-Waza Championships, Bucks

Svetlana Purisova and Adam Kowalski fought in the senior age band, winning a gold apiece. Adam then doubled up to join Antonio in the Veterans section, where they also won a gold apiece. 4 golds from 3 judoka and a lot of fun had by all. 

14th July - Don Werner Memorial Championships, High Wycombe

GOLD Maya Aubert-Gomez
GOLD Valentine Bachelez
GOLD Peter Davies
GOLD Mounir Baaziz
GOLD Luke Davies
SILVER Anton Derkach

26th July - Zagreb Grand Prix, Croatia

This tournament has provided us, as a team, with one of the greatest experiences of our careers. For the first time we had two competitors at this level, with Nekoda leading the charge. Ryan arrived for his debut and for Jo it was a first opportunity to sit matside at this level. We also travelled as a club from a training venue in Celje, Slovenia and were able to support our athletes loudly from the stands. We were very fortunate to also have the technical wizardry of Darcel Yandzi in the house. He has been working with Nekoda and so the group was complete: personal coach, technical coach, training partners, club-mates. This all made for a real in-the-zone experience. 

Above: Ryan, waiting in the tunnel.

Ryan did everything right in the lead up to his contest and although the fight didn't quite turn out as he'd have liked, he has had an unbelievable experience and has proved to himself that he has all he needs to begin a career at a higher level. Nekoda had a fantastic day and she loved every minute of it. She won 4 out of 5 contets to take a bronze medal and some important Olympic ranking points.

Above: Feeling good in our Zagreb. (Photo credit: Ben Urban)