Bronze for Crouch and Musker  (British Nationals 2007- Sheffield)

A record number of 750 young judo players competed to earn national age band titles over the weekend at the British Judo Association’s junior national age band championships held in Sheffield for 12-17 year olds.

Four members of Tonbridge Judo Club travelled up to the event, staged on a covered ice rink at IceSheffield, and were in excellent form after months of preparation attending training camps in Holland, Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Norway.

The club returned with two bronze medals from the event which is a national qualifier for the BJA’s World Class Start Programme. This aims to prepare players for progression up to world class performance with the ultimate goal of winning medals at the World Championships and Olympic Games.

First to compete in the highly charged stadium was Michael Musker, 13, of Sevenoaks School.  Michael was fighting in the B band under 55kg following his success at the recent Heart of England championships.

Making a good start in the tournament, Michael progressed through the early rounds to reach the semi-final where he narrowly lost to the current GB number one. This put Michael against a boy from the strong Welsh squad where he deservedly won a bronze medal.

Next to compete was Paul Crouch, aged 14, from Uplands Community College Wadhurst fighting in the C Band under 46kg category.

This was a big step up for Paul in weight and age but it didn’t deter the very determined young fighter from proving to the selectors that his bronze medal was well deserved. Paul fought with tenacity and determination to reach the semi final where he confronted Sam Hughes, from Camberley Judo Club who is at the top of age and weight band.

Paul fought hard but was unable to overcome the maturity of the Camberley fighter.  His next fight for the bronze medal was one of this best performances to date winning by the maximum score of ippon and leaving the selectors in no doubt to include him in the British squad.

James Sparks, aged 14, from Hayesbrook School was competing in his first national championships and was unlucky to draw Curtis Dodge for his first fight.  The Welsh fighter is a Youth Olympic and European medalist and a protégé of Neil Adams, Olympic silver medalist.  James fought bravely but was unable to match the strength and skill of this Welsh international. 

In the repechage the young Tonbridge fighter was unfortunate that there was a three-hour break between fights and he was unlucky to lose the next contest.

“James has a fantastic future in the sport and will have gained a tremendous amount of experience from this event”, said Tonbridge coach Chris Bowles.

James Martin, aged 14, from Mascalls School, Paddock Wood, fought in the highly competitive under 50kg class C Band.  This was James’s first tournament at the new weight class.

This weight category is the lowest weight at the European championships and therefore the calibre of the competitors was extremely high.

James got off to a tremendous start dispatching three of his opponents by ippon and reaching the quarter finals where he faced Jack Jones from Wales in a hard fought battle that went to time.  The first person to score determined the winner and unfortunately it was not in James’ favour.  This put James back into the repechage where he fought incredibly hard beating the next two opponents by ippon.

James’s fight for bronze medal, although losing, was his hardest and most exciting to date and he eventually took fifth place.  James will have automatic selection to the World Class Start Programme due to his performances over the last six months and the fact that he represented Great Britain stands him in good stead.

Coaches Chris Bowles, Dick Marcroft and Colin Eldridge were delighted with the way all the fighters competed and conducted themselves.

Click on picture to see Focus Article 23 October 2007    

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