Strong performance at Southern Area Regional Schools Judo Championships

Six members of Guernsey Judo Club travelled to the Medway Park Sports Centre in Gillingham, Kent to compete at the Southern Area Regional Schools Judo Championships that took place on Saturday 20^th January 2024. This competition was open to school years 4 to 13 and Guernsey had five schools represented at the event.

Esme Mann (10 years) – La Mare De Carteret Primary School (Girls Years 4 & 5 - 36kg category)

Esme was competing in her first judo competition and was the first Guernsey athlete on the mat. Unfortunately, she had no one in her weight category to compete so had to go up against a girl in the Years 4 & 5 -40kg category in a best of three round robin. Esme’s opponent was much taller and heavier, which was noticeable when she got thrown onto her back for an Ippon score and a loss. Esme did better in her second contest by avoiding a throw and almost turning her opponent over to attempt a hold. Again, her opponent’s size was too much for Esme and she had a second loss. Although they didn’t have to have the third contest, both girls were happy to compete against each other and this is where you could see Esme’s confidence grow as she put up a good fight against her opponent with both getting attacks in and each avoiding being thrown. Both athletes received a shido (penalty) for not attacking enough and at 2 minutes 47 seconds of the three-minute contest Esme was thrown onto her back for a loss.

Although Esme lost her contests, she did put in a very good performance and was awarded the gold medal for the weight that she would have fought in, had there been more entries.

Presley Connolly (13 years) – La Mare De Carteret High School (Girls Years 8 & 9 - 48kg category)

Next on the mat was Presley Connolly and in a similar situation to Esme before her, she had no one in her weight category to compete against, so had to move up a weight. Her opponent [which she fought against three times] threw her cleanly for an Ippon score in the first contest, followed in the second with a Waza-Ari (Half) score and a hold down to win the second contest. The third contest saw Presley get thrown for a Waza-Ari and escaping a hold that her opponent had on her, before eventually being thrown onto her back.

Presley deservingly received the gold medal for the weight that she would have fought in had there been others in the category.

Jodie Sharman (14 years) – St Sampson's High School (Girls Years 8 & 9 - 63kg category)

The third Guernsey athlete on the mat was Jodie Sharman who was in a pool of three meaning she would have two contests and needed one win to get at least silver. In the first contest Jodie came out strong against a tough opponent, but a slight change in her hand position, enabled her opponent to throw her onto her back for the Ippon. Not all was lost, however as silver was still in her sights! Again, Jodie started the stronger of the two but got countered for a Waza-Ari score, where Jodie then avoided being held down. Jodie came close to getting a score, but her opponent was able to land on her front. Like her opponent, Jodie was then thrown and avoided it by landing on her front; however, once up on their feet, Jodie’s opponent got in front of her and was able to throw her onto the mat. Although Jodie didn’t get a win, she did receive the bronze medal.

Eqisha Parry (15 years) – Blanchelande College (Girls Years 10 & 11 - 52kg category)

Eqisha Parry was in a group of five, which meant she would have four contests with the medals determined on the number of wins someone got.

The first contest was a new experience for Eqisha who was up against a higher graded visually impaired athlete, meaning that her opponent was escorted onto the mat with an official and the start of the contest would be with both athletes taking a grip of one another, rather than having to fight for a grip. This initially was a surprise to Eqisha she nor her coach (Eddie) had been told that this would be happening. However, she couldn’t treat it differently and had to make it her own. After some good attacks by both athletes, Eqisha was unlucky to get an early hold down on her opponent. The referee brought both girls back to the centre of the mat, where they had to again start by having a grip on each other. It was here where Eqisha countered a drop throw by her opponent, turning her onto her back and putting her into a hold down for twenty seconds for the win.

Eqisha’s was thrown for a waza-ari in her second contest but was able to stay on the ground a place her opponent into a strangle, for which she submitted. This gave Eqisha a second win and firmly placed her in the mix for a medal.

Having two wins behind her, she came out strong in her third contest and on several occasions avoided being thrown onto her back by her opponents drop morote seio nage throw. She did however go a waza-ari down, followed by a shido (penalty) for stepping out of the area before being unable to avoid a final drop throw attack.

After the third contest it was clear that a previous injury was beginning to hurt again and although Eqisha did have the option to not compete in her fourth and final contest, she wasn’t going to let her injury get in the way of a potential silver medal. Eqisha’s opponent recognised she was carrying the injury and focused on throwing her on the side of it. After fighting for the dominant grip, Eqisha was pulled around by her opponent and thrown with an Uchi-mata throw, although managed to turn out of the throw meaning her opponent scored a waza-ari rather than an ippon. Eqisha managed to get on top of her opponent, looking for a strangle before being called to stop by the referee and start again in the middle of the mat. Eqisha was unfortunate to be countered with a sacrifice throw for the loss but did provide her with a bronze medal.

Toby Bisson (15 years) – Elizabeth College (Boys Years 10 & 11 - 55kg category)

Toby Bisson was the next Guernsey athlete to take to the mat in a group of seven, split into a pool of four and a pool of three. Toby was in the pool of three meaning he had two contests that needed at least one win to progress and guarantee a medal.

Toby was taken by surprise in his first contest and was dominated by his opponent before being thrown for an Ippon score and a loss. This first loss meant that Toby had to win his second contest and although he put in some good attacks, the competition experiences his opponent had showed in the way in which he threw Toby onto his back with a foot sweep.

Toby can take a lot from this competition and put into practice some new ideas in his preparation for his next competition on the 9^th March.

Alexander Stewart (18 years) – Elizabeth College (Boys Years 12 & 13 - 66kg category)

After a long wait it was the turn of Alexander Stewart to compete. Alexander weight category was the -66kgs which at any other competition would have been a very popular weight. However, on this day, he was the only one so had to compete in the next weight category up – the -73kgs.

The size and weight difference were easy to see and although he got thrown for a waza-ari score in his first contest, his opponent was unable to hold him down and Alexander managed to escape. After the restart, Alexander was unable to get a dominant grip on his opponent and was eventually thrown for a second waza-ari score.

His managed to find his way in the second contest and avoided being thrown onto his back. He was also able to stop his opponent from holding him down whilst still looking for a strangle. Again, his opponent tried to take him to the ground, looking for an armlock or strangle, which Alexander did very well to avoid. However, it wasn’t meant to be and Alexander was thrown cleanly onto his back for an ippon score.

The weight he was giving away to his opponents was clear to see in his final contest when he was thrown cleanly onto his back as soon as he had taken a grip.

Although Alexander didn’t manage a win [fighting in a higher weight category], he did come away with the gold medal for his own weight category, -66kg which was well deserved.

Overall, the Guernsey contingent had a successful competition coming away with three gold and two bronze medals. Guernsey Judo Club Chair/Coach Eddie Mann said that he “was proud of them all in the way in which they did their best, supported one another and are a credit to the schools they were representing”. Of the six that went to this competition, five will be competing at the British Schools Judo Championships on the 9^th & 10^th March at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield.