The CJC crew assembled at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre for what was to prove to be a long uncomfortable weekend in the hot, busy venue. Despite the challenging heat and sometimes dubious refereeing there were good performances from all of the players
On the Saturday, eight mini warriors took to the battle field. First up in the U27 kg Yellow belts was Jack Baxter. Despite being a little out of sorts he comfortably won his first contest, but was than soundly defeated in his next (against the wrong opponent!) and withdrew from the competition to lick his wounds. In the U34kg yellow belt CJC had two representatives; Louie Baylis and Tom Kirk. Louie hadthree tough fights, winning one and losing two. Tom had a frustrating experience, after four convincing wins (three won by maximum point throws and one in golden score) his momentum was halted when he was told he had fought the wrong competitor in the semi-final. Perhaps being a little distracted by this news he subsequently lost the re-run of the semi-final and the bronze medal contest to finish in 5th place,scant reward for a strong performance which had seen TK defeat both the eventual bronze medallists earlier in the day! Also in the yellow belts section was Dennis Gorman at U42kg. Carry a slight injury from the previous weeks training, which was aggravated further in his first contest, he struggled to perform to his best ability but still managed to secure one win with a throw for maximum 10 points.
In the orange and green belts first called to the mat was Ewan Tweedie in U60kg. Facing boys almost 3 years his senior Ewan remained positive and gave it his all but was over powered by the older competitors. In the U46kg Oliver Baldwin put in a good performance, winning one contest and showing clear signs of improvement at this tough level. Toby Roberts U50kg was in a large group, he started gradually working his way through the competition looking strong on the grips and throwing his opponents for maximum scores. After losing in the third round he dropped in to the repecharge and progressed to the bronze fight where he got caught off guard and thrown. Four wins and two losses left Toby just outside the medals with a 5th place. Last to fight on this long first day was Ben Baxter U42kg. In another big group Ben did well to remain focused considering the long wait he had before his first fight. He won one fight with a dominant display of gripping but lost to two strong opponents to conclude the days fighting for the Juniors. This is a particularly tough event as there is no age banding and anyone between the age of eight and sixteen years can enter. In light of this the performances across the board were encouraging.
Sunday was the turn of the Elite team, starting with James Martin who fought up a weight at -66kg. Considering this step up he fought well winning 3 matches before losing to a Dutch competitor in the final. Dru Oakes also made the move up a category to fight in -73kg. He also coped well and finished with bronze after winning 2 fights and losing 1. Andrew Panayi -66kg didn’t manage to get in the medals but won 2 matches and lost 2.
Well done to everyone that fought and represented Camberley!
