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The Great Northern Open Report

For the 5th running of this superb judo competition hosted by the Newcastle area of the British Judo Council. Teams came from all over England, Scotland, Wales, Italy, Switzerland, Holland & Ireland.

With a huge entry of over 350 competitors, 70 more had to be turned away due to time constraints, according to tournament organisers John Chrisp & John Pickering.

This was only the 2nd time any Irish competitors took part in this prestigious event on the BJC calendar. Judo Ireland Senior Squad Manager, Alan Martin, 3rd Dan, assisted by Cavan Judo Club coach, Adrian Boyle took 7 players from around the country, 4 seniors & 3 juniors.

All 3 junior players came from Cavan Judo Club & fought very well in their first International competition, winning 3 medals. Edgaras Milevicius was first up in the Junior Boys U-45kg section, showing the way with 4 straight wins to the Gold, even though he was the lightest in the group. In his first match he faced Anthony Gascoigne, Westgate Judo Club, who he threw for wazari & held for Ippon. Next he beat Jack Wethendge, SR Judo Club, on whom he scored 1 yuko & 2 kokas for victory. After throwing John Overton, Westgate, for koka, he then applied a juji getame armlock for Ippon. In the final he defeated a very tough Kyle Traynor, SR, by a single koka for victory & the title.

Edgaras’s brother Simas won 2 out of 3 fights in the Over 50kg section to win silver. First up he threw Mark Walsh, Briardale, for Ippon with Osoto-Makikomi in 10 seconds. Next up was Michael Campbell, Newcastle, whom he dispatched easily with Taiotoshi for Ippon. In the final, Simas was outclassed by Jamie Wilson, Glossop, who eventually threw him for Ippon with Ouchigari.

Our final Junior, Jordan Denning, in the U-55 kg, started very strongly with a convincing victory over John Wilson, Rapukan, leading by 2 kokas & 2 yukos before finally winning by Ippon with kesagetame. He started very strongly also against Haarroison Gott, Kyu Shin do Ryu with koka from a drop seoinage, but banged his head in the process & received a mild concussion. He struggled through the rest of the match, even escaping from kesagetame, but eventually succumbed to a 3 koka to 1 loss. In his final match Jordan was well below par against the strongest competitor & eventual Gold medallist in the group, Bilegt Knasa, Sale. Following a further bang to the head & a bloody nose, Jordan was forced to concede, but won a Bronze medal for his effort.

Our 1st senior player out was Brain Walsh, Kyouto Judo Club Cork in the Men’s U-62 kg. Brian, a brown belt drew Colin Hyde, Gateshead, 1st Dan, in his first match, getting caught early on by drop seoinage for yuko. Brian attacked strongly in newaza narrowly missing out on a submission from juji getame, before eventually getting caught with a lovely left uchimata for Ippon. Next he faced Italian, Geno Vesi, Roma, 1st kyu, whom he dispatched early on with a wonderful counter to Ogoshi. In his 3rd match, he faced Lee Storey, Newcastle, 1st Dan, whom he caught early with a leg grab, but got no score. Again Brian attacked strongly in newaza missing out on a strangle this time, but was eventually caught by the most popular throw of the tournament, drop kata guruma. Fired up for his last match, Brian faced Mark Taylor, 1st Dan, Southfields Judo Club, Leicester, whom he dispatched quite quickly with a strong Ouchigari for Ippon. For his hard work, Brian earned a credible 5th place overall in his 1st judo competition abroad.

Our only female competitor, Christina Kelly, Castleknock Community College stepped up to the Senior Women’s event. Being the only U-52 kg competitor, she had to fight up in the very competitive U-57 kg category, where all her opponents were Dan grades. In her first match she got caught for Ippon with Ogoshi by Courtney Hancock, The Parks Judo Club & British squad member while over reaching for her favoured high-grip. She settled better in her 2nd match against Amy Chambers, South Shields, countering 2 strong seoinages & just missing out on a strangle, before getting caught by Haraigoshi for Ippon. Finally, she met the eventual Gold Medallist, Holly Laws, Newcastle, to whom she got caught with a lovely hip throw.

Desmond McKenna, Dublin School of Judo was in terrific form in the Men’s U-81 kg defeating Newcastle’s John McGuinness, 1st Dan with 2 kokas in his first match. In the semi-final, Des faced a rising star in British Judo, Danny Clayton, Rakukan Judo Club who never stopped attacking. Skilfully avoiding strong kata guruma attacks, Des caught Danny with Ouchigari for koka taking him into newaza, then securing kami-shiho-getame for Ippon. In the final, Des met the very impressive James Gilmore, Budokwai, London, who had thrown everyone for Ippon all day, including several British squad members. This match proved no different with James throwing Des for Ippon with a beautiful Taiotoshi. Des had secured a deserved Silver Medal.

17-year old Brown Belt, Colin Kiernan, Pobalscoil Rosmini, represented us at U-90 kg. He met the eventual winner, Les Welsh, Blyth Judo Club in his 1st match, who proved too strong throwing Colin for Ippon with Taiotoshi in the 2nd minute. In his 2nd match, Colin threw Marc Proctor for Ippon early on with a spectacular Taniotoshi. Finally, he met the eventual silver medallist, Matthew Wilfair, Raven, who countered Colin’s uchimata early on & eventually threw him for Ippon with Haraigoshi. A Bronze medal for Colin.

It was a superb performance from our group of rookie competitors, winning 5 medals with only 7 competitors. I think the future certainly looks good for Irish Judo on the International competitive circuit with such an encouraging start.

Alan Martin, 3rd Dan
Team Coach