The BJC Junior Nationals were held in Hereford
on 4th May 2003, and Torbay Judo Club was proud to enter seven
of its members to the contest. No minibus trip this time, as everyone
was arriving from different directions. For most of the group this
was the first experience of a national contest, and excitement
battled with nerves as we arrived at 9 am for the first weigh-ins.
Ben Corbishley was the first to fight in the
Under 30 kg category, a large group that had to be spread over
two mats. The fighting was fierce even at this weight. Ben fought
hard and did very well to win two of his bouts.
Alex Paske was the next one on the mat in the
Under 45 kg category. Again there were a lot of judoka in this
group, and two mats were needed to get the contest underway. Alex
fought brilliantly, with the rest of the club cheering him on loudly,
and we were all disappointed for him when he didn’t come
away with a trophy.
Naomi Vincent won three of her four fights in
the Under 50 kg, one with a hold-down and the other two with her
demon stranglehold. She came away with a well-deserved bronze trophy. |
After several long periods of inactivity
between fights, friends and family suddenly found themselves trying
to watch four people at the same time as Vicky Corbishley, Claire
Gaffney, Sam Vincent and Richard
Daniels were all on the mats at the same time.
Vicky fought in the Under 55 kg category, and won her first bout
with a perfectly performed tomoe-nage. She went on to win two out
of her four fights and came tantalisingly close to a trophy position,
ending up 5th in her weight category.
Claire came up against several tough opponents in the Over 60s
category, and fought very well, particularly as this was only her
second contest.
Richard and Sam were in the Over 60 kg and both performed well.
There was some breathtaking action in this category and it was
obvious that some of the judoka had years of experience behind
them. Sam managed to win two out of four fights with hold-downs,
and ended up in fifth place.
It was a good day, enjoyed as much by those of us who went to
watch as by the competitors, in spite of the fact that we spent
the day indoors and missed a rare bit of Bank Holiday sunshine
outside. Everyone who took part was a credit to the Club, and they
must have enjoyed the experience because they are all talking about
going back again next year!
Deb Vincent, May 2003 |
