Tonbridge judo Club has had a busy few weeks!!
Bev Price:
Just before Christmas we entered the Bev Price team event for the first time and the club went out in force at all age groups.
We had three men’s teams using players of all standards and in a hard fought competition two of the teams found themselves through great judo in the bronze fights. The third team suffered injuries along the way and were unlucky not to get further. Ben Urban, James Newsom and John Hisee suffered the loss of Ben through a shoulder injury in the first round but fought bravely on. James was in his first ever senior event and John took some great scalps in his fights.
The team of Matt Kavanagh (borrowed from Ford), Johnny Donovan (replacing an injured John Try) and Justin Macklin was a revelation and despite an injury forcing Johnny out in the quarter final they finished fifth with superb performances from Matt and Justin which were the talk of the club! A heroic bronze medal performance form the aptly named ‘Bang on Weight’ team won them a bronze medal each with stand out fights from James Sparks and James Martin getting them to the final and a medal winning throw from Lee Davies gaining them the bronze.
Bronze for "Bang on Weight
Elsewhere George and Enrico were in their usual sparkling form and as a team of two in a 3 man event they sailed to the gold medal whilst Ryan and Chris in a similar two man position were unlucky to finish with bronze and not silver with excellent performances all day. The third boys team finished in fifth, but were so close to a medal with very exciting and courageous judo from Harry, Tommy and a small Awiti (thanks Enfield). The women on yer backs’ narrowly took silver after two unlucky fights from Mia and Prisca (borrowed from Enfield) left Mima unable to win the final (both having been unbeaten at that stage) although she bravely battled to a draw against a bigger opponent.
We also entered a team in the very small girls and Simone, Olivia and Jasmine fought long and bravely throughout the day with 7 fights each, eventually finishing in fifth position. A great day was had by all and we travelled there and back in style and with plenty of noisy parental support.
Junior Trials:
Last weekend 21/22 January saw 4 of the cadet/junior players in action at the junior Trials at Sheffield. It was a hard ask for the cadets as they were up against juniors but Enrico, George and Ryan all put in excellent performances beating players up to four years older than themselves and gaining great experience for the future. The star of the day was James Sparks who raced through the preliminary rounds and was unlucky not to reach the final pool by a small score. Throughout the day he looked strong and well drilled and was very close to gaining a medal in this prestigious event.
Coming up we have the Commonwealth Championships in Cardiff where 6 players have qualified – James M, Aaron, Mia, George, Enrico and Ryan. The Heart of England with well over 10 players from all age bands and that same weekend 3 seniors are competing in Liverpool and so it goes on. Good luck to all the players and coaches and thanks to all the parents for coming and supporting all the players. Go TJC!!
