Members of Camberley Judo Club young and old kept the recent medal haul in 2011 flowing nicely with fantastic results in competitions this weekend.
The senior elite team competed in the Northern Home counties Open at High Wycombe and came away with one gold, three silvers and a bronze.
Sophie Johnstone won the gold medal in her first competition for over a year after returning from a knee injury. Johnstone who was competing in a weight group above her normal category won all her fights by maximum points in the u57kg to take the gold medal and get her back on the fighting circuit in preparation for London 2012.
Silver medals went to Frazer Chamberlain, Ian Byrne and Robyn Irwin. Byrne (u66kg) and Chamberlain (u81kg) both put in a gutsy performance in their categories to narrowly missed out on taking the gold medals by a small score in the final contest.
Finishing off the day for the seniors was Billy Pitman who walked away with a bronze medal in the u73kg category.
Britain’s number one in the 73kg category Danny Williams was representing GBR at the Laval Open in France. 6 tough fights saw Williams eventually emerge with a well deserved Bronze medal which is a crucial international result for him and will secure further selection events with the British team for London 2012. Williams along with Tom Davis has just been selected to represent GBR at the upcoming Poland World Cup. Davis will also represent GBR this weekend at the prestigious German Grand Prix at 81kg.
The junior team continued their success in 2011 with 12 out of 14 medals at the Millennium Mini Mon event in Redhill. For 5 members of the team this was their first ever competition which shows huge potential and growth for Camberley’s junior section.
Sheree Fleming got the team off to a flying start with a gold medal in the u52kg Red belt category. Fleming who was the only girl to compete set the challenge for the boys for the rest of the day.
Tom Kirk who was making his debut did not disappoint the team. Maximum points were scored by him in all 5 of his matches to take the gold in the u27kg category with most of his contests lasting no longer than 20 seconds.
Oliver Bergqvist who has won gold at the last 3 competitions continued his winning streak with another gold in the u 42kg category. Bergqvist met fellow Camberley team mate and training partner Toby Roberts in the first round. Both players put up a fantastic fight and Bergqvist emerged the winner by a small score. Bergqvist and Roberts then went on to beat all the other players in their category by maximum points meaning that Camberley ended up with the Gold and Silver.
An impressive performance was also given by Ben Townsend (Newbury) who also won all his fights by maximum points to take the gold in the u34kg category. Townsend who was fighting up a category looked untouchable all day and made light work of all his contests, with one fight lasting only 5 seconds.
Silver medals went to Oliver Baldwin, Ben Baxter Bodhi Blacklock, Jordan Mullis and Lewis Cullum (Newbury) with bronze medals being secured by Luke Smith and Jack Baxter.
