Its a Clean Sweep for Super Draper

It was a split weekend for Tonbridge Judo Club as 12 fighters were on the march at the Halesowen Championships in Walsall and the Hampshire Open Championships in Portsmouth.

Fifteen-year-old James Draper fighting at –55kg made the journey to Portsmouth all worthwhile by winning all four of his contests in emphatic style to take the gold medal at the Hampshire Open in Portsmouth.

Meanwhile at the Halesowen competition TJC members won seven medals at what is one of the preliminary competitions for seeding players for the three national qualifying events to be staged in September, October and November. Staged at Walsall University, this competition attracts around 300 top competitors from all over the country.

Fighting in the under 50kg category was Dean Garlick (15) who put in a top class performance on his way to the final where he beat British number one Charlie Davis by a Yuko score (five points). This is a very promising start to the build up of the national qualifying events for Dean who will, without doubt, be the best in this class.

There was another gold medal for Sam Greig (13), fresh from his recent success at the South of England Championships, who made light work of all four opponents scoring the maximum ippon in all contests.

Next on the gold trail was Kalum Blanks (11) fighting at under 34 kgs. His hard work and determination has certain paid off as Kalum looked a class above the rest in his category taking gold with relative ease.

Silver medals at this event went Dominic Morton (11) and George Callum (11). Both fighters showed great throwing ability and good groundwork skills throughout the day and fully deserved their places.

Bronze medals went to Andrew Panyi (15) and Harry Try (11) who fought relentlessly all day and are now starting to reap the benefits of their dedication to the sport.

James Sparks, Paul Crouch and Enrico Atkinson all came within a whisker of taking a medal but were unfortunate on this occasion.

Tonbridge Judo Club coaches were very impressed with their attitude and determination and praised everyone who fought in this competition.

Anybody wishing to take part in the Olympic sport of judo for fun or competitions should contact Chris Bowles on 01732 838532

Home