Members of Amesbury School Judo Club were in action last weekend at the first ever ‘Preparatory Schools Judo Championship for girls held at Brockhurst and Marlston House Schools, Hermitage. Alice, Elisabeth and Millie took to the mat against pupils from Marlston House, St. Edmunds, Eagle House, Edgeborough, Maltman’s Green, Farleigh School, St. Gabriel’s School, Crossfields and Cranford House for an afternoon of competitive judo action.
Girls were grouped into pools of 4 or 5 competing in similar age and weight groups. In Group A, making her competitive debut, Alice took Bronze. In her final match she beat the eventual gold medalist by wazari (7 point score) which put the whole group on its head with final positions being decided on points rather than wins.
Millie in Group G took a well deserve Bronze. Her opponents had to work very hard for their wins as Millie showed lots of grit and determination and proved to be a tough adversary.
Elisabeth in Group H, got off to a flying start winning her opening two bouts taking maximum points in each.
In her third and final contest Elisabeth came up against tough opposition (last year’s IAPS National Judo champion). Unfortunately the result did not go her way and she finished with a creditable Silver medal for her efforts.
A big thank you to all Judoka for their effort, impeccable behaviour and good sportsmanship and to the travelling support of parents and siblings. We hope to run the event again and it would be great to see more Amesbury girls getting involved.
Martin Rance, Judo Club Coach
