Success for Warwick Judo

This weekend saw another triumph for Warwick Judo as two teams were entered into the University of Sheffield International Student Teams (USIST) competition. With over 200 entrants the competition attracted players from a number of different universities, including clubs from Wales, Scotland and even Germany. Some fantastic results were seen as the Warwick A team successfully defended their silver medal attained last year, very narrowly missing out on gold to the international German ‘Münster Monsters’. Warwick B team did extremely well,breakingall previous B-team records with their efforts taking them through to the knockout stages of the competition.

The teamswere composed of six people, made up of two women (-57kgs and +57kgs), and four men (-73kgs, -81kgs, -90kgs and +90kgs). Warwick A team (Sophie Cox, Anna-mariaCarbone, Sam Harris, Tom Grandjean, Joe Rattenbury and Quentin Loos) faced teams from Leeds, Manchester, York, Birmingham, Bristol and finally Münster in some epic battles towards gold. Sailing through the first few rounds in the pool stages, the team easily beat the Manchester B team with every player winning their fight. Against Leeds and York Warwickfurther dominated the mat, winning every single fight bar one withan Ippon, a full point attained by a clean throw onto an opponent’s back or a submission on the ground from a lock, choke or pin. Manchester A were the A team’s first opponents in the knockout stages and provided some competition at first, but the final result of four Ippon wins meant that the team glided through to the last 16. Warwick A then met longstanding boat-race rivals Bristol A, and we saved our pride aswe won the round again with four Ippons.

Tensions began to run high as the team advanced to the semi-finals, facing tough competition from Birmingham. Both Sophie and Anna-maria drew their fights, leaving it down to the men on the team to secure a place in the final. Sam and Tom both unluckily lost by Waza-ari, a half point given when an opponent is thrown but does not land on their back, or is held down but then escapes. The pressure was therefore high for Joe and Quentin, on whom the whole match rested. Both valiantly stepped up to the mark and saved the team as Joe earned a clean Ippon with the hip throw ‘uchimata’ and Quentin eventually won after gaining a Waza-ariagainst his opponent. Warwick were therefore declared winners through points, advancing through to the nail-biting final.

The competition was tough as the ‘Münster Monsters’ had effectively dominated their categories throughout the day, taking out some top teams along the way. A huge crowd of all the other fighters and supporters gathered to watch the final confrontation of England vs Germany, eager for some just revenge. In the first fight, Annamaria battled her opponent, the two women were well matches and the fight ended in a draw. Next up was club President Sophie, who set the bar for the rest of the team, she faced some intense competition from her opponent but finally won the fight by Ippon in a fantastic display of technique and determination. Pressuretherefore mounted up for the boys, who had to win in order for Warwick to win gold. Sam and Quentin both unfortunately lost by Ippons from the Münster team, and in some extremely tense and drawn-out matches Tom and Joe lost by a Yuko, the lowest score given for a throw. The close fights all reflect the well matched teams. A huge congratulations goes to the A team as they demonstrated some fantastic skill, perseverance and team-work, claiming a highly respectable silver medal.

Warwick B team of Sapphire Samiullah, Antoine Rémond-Tiedrez, Pete Wing, Adam Michaelis and Robbie Ripamontidemonstrated some equally good technique, but were unfortunate not to make it to the medal stages. The day started out with some difficulty as the team were lacking in a women’s -57kg player and a men’s -90kg player. However, this did not daunt Warwick at all as Adam, who had originally come to support, stepped up to fight in the –90kg category so as not to displace the other team members, despite weighing only 64kgs!The B team faced tough competition from Aberystwyth, who they narrowly lost to in their first match.In the second round against Manchester C team Warwick stepped up the paced and regained theirconfidence. Sapphire was able to winher fight on the ground, pinning and submitting her opponent with a choke. Antoine and Pete then added to the team’s success, winning both fights by Ippon and displaying excellent skills against some tough opponents. Adam unfortunately lost the following fight, but put up a great resistance against someone over 20kgs heavier than him. Finally Robbie secured a victory for the team as he attained two Waza-aris, resulting in an Ippon for the final fight. The team was therefore through the initial pool stages, a fantastic result as the B team who have never before advanced so far. Their final match against eventual bronze medal winners Birmingham was a tough one and proved too much for the B team. The Warwick fighters put up strong opposition but were unluckily unable to win their fights. They should be very proud of their efforts though as they displayed some great Judo and were able to beat a number of opponents through clear skill and determination. Having broken their club record, the B team now expect to do even better next year and look forward to joining the A team as medallists.

Mention must be given to Warwick player John Thornby who has displayed extreme dedication to the Judo club this year, not missing a single training session and going out of his way to attend extra training at Coventry Judo club. He accompanied the Warwick A and B teams to Sheffield, determined to fight and gain competition experience. Loughborough quickly snapped him up as their +90 player, and he proved tough competition for a number of skilled opponents.

The day overall was a great success and a testament to the Ippon Judo taught by world-class Sensei Dave Nicholls at Warwick University. Every Warwick player gave their best on the mat, and we will be proudly displaying our silver medal, though look forward to a rematch next year for gold! Sheffield has provided some great competition experience for those players advancing to the BUCS competition at the end of the month, the final and largest event of the Judo calendar. Warwick fighters should feel confident that after such success for the club so far this year, our winning streak will continue and lead to more fantastic results at BUCS.