Results etc. Newsworthy happenings.
1 day, 2 players, 3 medals….
Michael Churcher made his senior debut today in the South Coast Senior Blue & Under competition.
After picking up a silver medal in his own weight, Michael then competed in an open weight event, adding a bronze medal to his tally.
Chloe Lymer competed in the South Coast Yellow & Under competition, winning a well deserved bronze medal with a confident performance of attacking judo.
Hampshire Judo enjoyed a successful at the Intercounty tournament on Sunday.
Chloe and Michael were in the thick of the action, Chloe scoring two excellent wins to help the girls’ team to a well deserved place. Michael and the boys came in third.
Full results can be found on the Hampshire Judo Facebook page.
Hampshire players will be competing in the Southern Area intercounty team tournament on Sunday 5th May.
Men, women, boys and girls will take on teams from Kent, Sussex and Surrey in this annual event that is one of the highlights of the Southern Area calendar.
This year’s event is being held at Worthing Leisure Centre, with action on the mat due to start at around 9.30am.
Two players who train at the club will be taking part – Michael Churcher and Chloe Lymer. We wish them and the rest of the team Good Luck!
Previous Court Lane representatives in Hampshire Team:
Players who train at the Club enjoyed a great day of Judo at Saturday’s Hampshire Closed.
Chloe Lymer was the first to fight, at -32kg. She was narrowly defeated in her first contest, but stormed back with an ippon scoring seoi nage in her next contest. A win in her third contest put her into top spot in her group of 4 and secured her a GOLD medal.
Jack Rogerson made his first judo outing in a couple of years. Jack fought his way out of his pool in 2nd place to enter the knock out stages, with some great ippon scores from both tachi waza and ne waza. In the final four, Jack was thrown for ippon and had to settle for bronze at -46kg.
Our last contestant was Michael Churcher, at -66kg. Michael made an emphatic start, throwing his first opponent for ippon. He followed this up with another two great maximum scoring throws to set up a deciding contest against Osaka’s Harrison Grist. Mike defeated Grist in last year’s tournament, but it was Grist’s turn to dominate this year, leaving Mike to settle for a well deserved silver.
Coaches and players from the Club also participated in the training session held with the visiting players from Jersey, to round off a memorable weekend of Judo.
Players from Court Lane Judo Club have made an exciting start to the year, with three medals from three competitions, across the whole spectrum of experience.
Michael Churcher claimed a bronze medal from the South Coast Green Belt & Under in January.
John Luijken followed this up with a bronze medal at the Surrey Red & Yellow Belt Open, in Reigate, at the beginning of February.
Club coach Craig Jones was also in action, competing at the South Coast Senior Open, where he claimed a third bronze medal for the club.
Craig Jones gained twenty points towards his 1st Dan at a grading in Horsham on Sunday.
Craig came back from a loss in his first fight, when he was held down, to score two ippon wins in his next two contests.
This takes Craig’s points score to forty, nearly half way to his black belt.
Well done Craig – keep going!
Isla continued to impress with her transition into more adult judo, winning a bronze medal at the South Coast Minors, Pre-Cadet and Cadet Open on 18 November.
Isla – who is still only a yellow belt – fought two blue belts in her own weight, including a great win by waza-ari awasete ippon, as well as taking on a brown belt from the next weight category.
Other players in action included regular Club visitors Michael Churcher and Chloe Lymer, who both returned with bronze medals.
Well done everyone, keep up all the hard work.
An exciting day of judo at the Hampshire Open saw Isla and Jonty make the transition from junior to adult judo.
Up first however was Jon Luijken, making his competition debut at -46kg. Whilst there was to be no medal on this occasion, he made a determined effort and showed great promise over his three fights.
Jonty, who recently competed in the regional schools qualifier, fought in a packed -71kg category. 17 players delivered some quality judo, with Jonty right in the thick of it. 3 wins from 5 contests – from throws, hold down and an opportunistic arm lock – saw him clinch a well deserved 5th place.
Isla was the lowest graded adult in the women’s -63kg category. Undaunted she delivered her usual all out attacking performance and was rewarded with a bronze medal.
Regular club visitors Michael Churcher and Harry Hopkins were also in action.
Harry competed in the same weight group as Jonty, delivering a lightning fast ippon win in his first fight. He wasn’t able to repeat on this in his next two fights, but still delivered a credible performance.
Michael Churcher had the misfortune to fight his Osaka nemesis Harrison Grist in his first fight. Despite having just competed in a 14 minute golden score contest, Grist still had enough left to secure revenge over Mike for his victory in the Hampshire Closed. Ultimately Mike secured a bronze medal in the junior -66kg.
A great day for the club, with junior players making a strong impact in the adult categories.
Nekoda with class
Court Lane Judo Club celebrated their 25th birthday with a visit from Rio Olympian and 2014 Commonwealth Games champion Nekoda Smythe-Davis, on Saturday 5th May.
Guests included club founder and original coach Roger Spreadbury, and former coach and News Coach of the Year nominee Jill Brown.
Davis, who herself recently turned 25, demonstrated some of the techniques that helped her win a world bronze medal in 2017, and joined in practice with the players.
In an insightful and honest question and answer session, she answered questions about her judo career, how she prepares for competition and the pressures on her at the beginning of judo’s two year qualification cycle for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Davis was joined on the mat by Brett Caswell. Caswell won the inaugural -21 Commonwealth Judo championships in 2006, 2005 British Championships and represented Great Britain all over the world. Jonty Bassil was another willing uke.
The session ended with Davis and Spreadbury cutting a cake to honour the Club’s 25th birthday.
Current Club Coach Tony Brown said, “It was great to get a player of Nekoda’s calibre down to help us celebrate our 25th birthday. The Club is on the way back up, with several players being selected for Hampshire squads over the last couple of years, and this was our way of giving the players, and their parents, something to inspire them and motivate them to keep working hard at their judo. It is a tough sport, but as Nekoda amply demonstrated, the rewards are there for those who keep their focus and determination.”
We are pleased to announce that Isla Savellis-Fry has been selected to represent Hampshire in this year’s Intercounty tournament.
Isla will be competing at -63kg, at the southern area event being hosted in Gillingham, Kent on 13th May.
Isla is the first female player from the Club to be selected for this team event.
Well done Isla!
