African Open, Port Louis, Mauritus
The first leg of the tour wielded some strong results.
Nathon Burns under 66kg Silver. Nathon was convincing all the way through the rounds winning by ippon and a wazari. He lost to the Canadian Patrick Gagne as he was winning by wazari, he made an error and got caught on the ground.
Danny Williams under 73kgs 5th place.
Danny had some tough fights, especially against the Azerbaijani and then lost to Nartey from Ghana. He lost to Italian for the bronze in a really close fight match.
Owen Livesey under 81 kg Silver.
Owen had a smooth ride to the final, the Austrian being his toughest opponent. The final against MNE, he was caught for ippon after leading by yuko and dominating the contest.
Frazer Chamberlain under 90 kg
Frazer lost his first fight to the Russian after a hard five minutes.
Oceania Open, Wollongong
The second leg of the tour got some great results for the lads.
Nathon Burns under 66 kg, came away with his first Continental Open GOLD. Nathon won all is fights by ippon on the way to the final. The Algerian Zourdani was his toughest fight. He was so pleased but in the final he tore a ligament in his knee, cutting his tour early.
Danny Williams under 73kg, Silver. Danny worked through the rounds with some tough fights against Chile, Azerbaijan and Patrick Dawson GBR.
Danny lost in the dying seconds in the final against Maddaloni, Italy after leading for the whole contest.
Owen Livesey under 81kg, Silver. Owen started the day with his toughest fight against the Azerbaijani, Rahimli. A close fight but Owen coming away with the win. He then cruised to the final. The Turkish player caught Owen with a throw which was unfortunate as they both turned in. Owen coming off unlucky.
Frazer Chamberlain under 90kg 5th Place.
Frazer had a tough first fight against the Azerbaijani, Alimli Rustam. Frazer eventually caught him with the famous Camberely strangle. He then lost to the USA Brown, then beat a Chilean in the repechage and then lost to African champions from Algeria for bronze.
Judo Grand Prix Qingdao
Frazer Chamberlain under 90kg beat Shmidt from Argentina by ippon. He then lost to the eventual winner Nagasawa from Japan in the round of 16.
Korean Grand Prix, Jeju
Ashley Mckenzie under 60kg. Unfortunately Ashley fought ill at this event but and he could not get past his Venezuelan opponent
Danny Williams under 73kg. Danny lost to Chouchi , Belgium, in round one. He was caught for ippon after earlier securing a two yuko lead
Frazer Chamberlain under 90. Frazer again reached the last 16 with a strong ippon wins against Bauza, Lithuania. He then faced Magomedov from Russia for a place in the quarter final. A really hard contest saw Frazer edged out
Owen Livesey under 81kg. Owen had a great day beating Korea and Montenegro to reach the quarter final where he faced Khalmurzaev of Russia. Owen was defeated but moved into the repechage where he beat Luz from Portugal by ippon. For bronze he was beaten by home favourite Lee finishing in a very credible 5th place.
The end of year Olympic qualifying race sees Ashley Mckenzie and Owen Livesey both in the direct qualification zone. Nathon Burns, Danny Williams and Frazer Chamberlain are all within striking distance in their respective categories. All to fight for in 2016! Thanks to everybody who has supported these athletes in their Olympic quest this year.