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Gold for Enrico ! - report from British Nationals 2008
Tonbridge Judo Club’s rising star Enrico Atkinson became national champion after taking gold in the –42kgs category at the 2008 British Championships for 10 and 11 year olds held in Walsall last Sunday.
The 11-year-old Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Boys pupil is one of the youngest people in the club’s 51-year-history to win a medal at this level. The prestigious competition attracted more than 130 top competitors from all over the country and is the toughest event in the judo calendar for players of this category.
Atkinson’s road to the gold medal began shakily but, after a few words of encouragement from his coach, his performance improved considerably and he started fighting on form. From then on Atkinson proved his prowess in this category and during the semi-final produced the throw of the day with a devastating ippon seio-nage (one-armed shoulder throw).
The final was against a very aggressive fighter from Scotland who proved to be the toughest challenger of the day. The contest went to full time but Atkinson was leading by three points, which was enough to secure the gold medal and the title of national champion.
Atkinson’s first national standard competition was just 11 months ago when he won a silver medal at the National Judo Championships in Thetford last November. He followed this with another silver last February, at the Midlands under 20 age-banded championships, then took a gold medal in May at the Budo Nord International Cup in Malmo, Sweden.
“The British Championships are a fantastic grounding for what could be the start of an illustrious judo career,” opined coach Chris Bowles. “Given the correct guidance and backing Enrico has all of the ingredients to become a future Olympian.
“He seems to be following closely in the footsteps of Tonbridge Judo Club’s James Martin who is currently on the World Class Talent Squad and who will be competing this weekend at the National Under 20 championships at the very young age of 15.”
Also competing at last weekend’s event was 11-year-old Kalum Blanks who, in the opinion of all the TJC coaches, fought with a maturity beyond his years. Fighting at –38kg he came up against the current, three times national champion John James, from Moberley All Stars Judo Club.
Blanks was in sparkling form and intent on upsetting the balance of the contest despite his opponent’s experience. When neither player had scored at the end of the contest it went into golden time where the first player to score wins. Blanks was unlucky to be given a harsh penalty and lost by the narrowest of margins.
This had quite an effect on the young player and he consequently lost the fight for a bronze medal taking fifth place. Bowles said that Blanks should learn a lot from this experience. “We feel sure he will be a future national squad player,” he added.
Fighting in the same weight category was fellow TJC member Harry Try. He put in a very disciplined performance and was looking as if he would make the final draw when he was unlucky to lose out to one of the eventual medalists.
Last but not least was the Tonbridge buzz bomb Tommy Chambers fighting at –30kg. Chambers had a brilliant start beating his first two opponents with comparative ease but during his third fight came up against the eventual finalist in this category and was narrowly beaten.
This put him into the repechage where he contested for the bronze medal and fought with amazing spirit and tenacity Just as Chambers appeared to be dominating the contest he was caught with a good score which put him into fifth place. “This is a result that he should take great heart from as he has a character that matches his judo – fast and furious but with a smile,” commented Bowles.
Bowles added that he would like to thank all the coaches who attended the competition - Colin Eldridge, Dick Marcroft and Andy Morton. “Our coaches are a valuable asset and their continual support is much appreciated by competitors and parents.”
