The gruesome CJC foursome of Frazer, Aaron, Lasha and James were joined by a 5th CJC warrior for the journey up to compete in the Welsh Open, in the form of -66kg Blackburnian Nathon Burns. Cardiff was in for a rough ride with these young fighters out to get some gold medals.
In the same weight of -66kg Aaron Turner and Nathon both stormed through 3 fights to meet each other in the final. In a scrappy no love lost contest between the club mates Nathon put a stop to Aaron’s winning streak of the last 2 competitions and claimed the gold leaving Aaron the younger of the 2 fighters with the silver. Disappointingly Frazer also didn’t manage to maintain his unbeaten record from the Eastern area and Heart of England in the -90kg and had to make do with the bronze after winning 2 contests and losing one. After getting bronze in his last 2 competitions James bettered this performance by winning Silver in the -60kg, well done.
The junior devision all worked extremely hard with a mixed outcome in terms of medals. Luke Smith (U34kg) & Ben Baxter (U42kg) fought in the Boys A Band for Under 12 year olds. Both got off to promising starts winning their first fights with superb maximum 10 point throws but were unable to capitilise on this and lost their next two contests. Lots to take fom this day for these young fighters and more valuable experience gained at this level.
A low entry in the Boys B Band U46kg meant a round robin format for Toby Roberts and a guaranteed four fights. Although clearly not at his best and looking a little tired, Toby nonetheless won his first three fights against strong opponents (a big Ippon throw in Golden Score of his second fight being the highlight), before meeting the London & Kent International Champion in his last contest. Having been caught early in the bout with a well timed leg sweep, Toby didn’t manage to get the score back and had to settle for Silver against an opponent he has had the better of in his last two outings.
James Preston Howes had a tough day at -60kg Band C, he went onto the mat with determination and aggression but his opponent capitalised on some small mistakes which saw him lose his 2 contests. Next was Sarah Hill in Band D -63kg, another small entry meant Sarah only had 3 contests, 2 of which she won confidently. She then faced Lucy Renshall a tough opponent who Sarah also fought the previous weekend and narrowly lost to. She fought well but was just edged out of the fight by a small score-next time!
Lastly was Stuart Brown in the young men Band D -73kg, and on this occasion we saved the best til last. Although Stuart didn’t come away with a medal he had some excellent fights, showing his gutsy character and throwing ability he won 3 fights most noticeably against a close rival he had lost to the previous weekend. Stuart’s gripping skills were outstanding for his age and he is showing potential to develop into a good senior player.
