Members of Camberley Judo Club’s Elite team traveled to Swansea for the Junior and Senior Welsh Open. New to the CJC Elite set up and the only junior representative was Reece Howard in -60kg. He won 1 out of 3 matches and gained some valuable experience with Head Coach Luke Preston mat side.
In the Seniors CJC had 7 competitors from the Elite team. Reece Howard doubled up and fought in the seniors too, again in -60kg and was joined by James Martin. Against more experienced competitors Reece didn’t manage to progress out of the pool stage, but club mate James Martin won his pool before losing in the semi-final to leave him with bronze.
Dru Oakes and Andrew Panayi, both -66kg started off with a win in their first matches before dropping into the repecharge, here again they both notched up another win. Dru was then defeated by a Scottish player whilst Andrew beat Israeli fighter Tal Amog to progress into the bronze contest. He beat Jamie Macdonald by maximum score to secure the bronze medal.
In the -73kg category experienced fighter Lee Shinkin dispatched both of his first 2 opponents by maximum scores moving him into the semi-final. Another win put Lee in the final against Curtis Dodge. Lee’s experience and composure saw him win by maximum points in under 30 second and bag the gold.
New comer to the CJC Elite team Owen Livesey (SKK Judo Club), fighting in -81kg looked confident and in control all day. Owen won all 4 of his contest by maximum scores to earn the gold medal beating Scotland’s Iain Feenan in the final by ippon.
Last was CJC heavy weight Frazer Chamberlain in -90kg. A bye followed by a win put Frazer in the semi-final against David Groom. He lost this contest to Groom who went on win the category, leaving Frazer to beat Liam Donkin and settle for the bronze this time.
Head Coach Luke Preston reflected on the performances…”The welsh open is always a great domestic event. The standard of judo on display from the elite team was high. Although I feel the players were capable of more gold medals I was pleased with their attacking style and the way they searched for ippon in every contest. “
