22 Medals at the British Trials UPDATED

23^rd January marked the date when JudoScotland’s elite squad of athletes travelled down to the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield to battle it out in the hope of becoming Senior British Champion. With the Olympics being held in London next year, Great Britain is blessed with the opportunity to select one player in each weight category to represent their country at the highest level of sporting excellence. As a result, the trials are especially important for all competitive judo players wanting to assert themselves as potential candidates for receiving the honour of representing their country in 2012.

With medals in six out of seven different weight categories, Scotland’s female judo talent certainly didn’t disappoint. Kimberley Renicks (-48kg), one of the favourites for the title of British Champion, received a silver medal but was unlucky not to have won gold after a controversial penalty went against her in golden score.

Fighting in the -52kg category, Samantha Clark should be proud of her performance. She was awarded with a silver medal for her efforts, only losing to the highly experienced Olympian Sophie Cox.

22 year old Connie Ramsay (-57kg) got off to a flying start convincingly winning her first three fights (two of her wins coming from hold-downs). In the final pool, she overcame the experienced Nadia Minardi with a choke but was narrowly defeated by Gemma Howell, giving her the silver medal. Connie looked strong and sharp and can look forward to what will hopefully be a prosperous year.

In the -63kg division, it was business as usual for 2-time Olympian Sarah Clark who dispatched of all her opponents with efficiency and prowess. With (now) a record 11 National Championship Titles as well as accolades such as former European Champion, prospects are looking exciting for the British No. 1 as London 2012 approaches.

Sally Conway was unstoppable at -70kg. One fierce yet controlled arm-lock and two beautiful foot-sweeps later, she found herself in the final with her old childhood rival Gemma Gibbons. The fight was extremely intense with a lot of pride at stake for both players. However, it was Sally whose upper hand in fitness and perseverant attacking prevailed as she was rewarded with a well-deserved gold medal.

In the heavyweight women’s +78kg category, Sarah Adlington managed to overcome her initial 1^st Dan opponent in only six seconds with an impressive hip throw. This placed her in the final with 31 year old Karina Bryant, an internationally experienced player with 7 world medals to her name. Sarah remained positive throughout the fight, displaying some excellent attacks. Unfortunately, Bryant was more interested in sitting back and waiting to counter Sarah’s attacks. In the end, Sarah lost after being countered which gave her the silver medal but she should walk away with her head held high. After results such as bronze at the World Cup in Korea in December 2010, the future looks bright for 24 year old Adlington.

Although the bar was set high by the women, the Scottish male athletes were not overshadowed by their counterparts’ success. The -60kg lightweight men’s division was one of the most hotly anticipated categories with Scotland’s very own James Millar, former World Champion Craig Fallon and the talented young Ashley McKenzie all due to fight each other. Unfortunately (for the spectators perhaps) McKenzie withdrew and Fallon moved up a weight category; however, this still left James with a tough group consisting of six other nationally ranked fighters. Five of these fighters were beaten with the maximum ippon score, with the sixth fighter being Graham Trinder – another member of the full-time Ratho set-up. This was a close affair, lasting the full five minutes, but it was James that emerged with the gold medal in the end, forcing Graham into accepting 3^rd place.

Absent from the -81kg category was Ratho-based Euan Burton. After a string of bronze medals at the World Championships, the Tokyo Grand Slam and the IJF Masters in Azerbaijan (three of the world’s toughest tournaments), Euan is recovering after strongly asserting himself yet again as Great Britain’s No. 1 fighter in the half-middleweight division.

In the middleweight -90kg category, Matthew Purssey found himself in one of the most competitive weight divisions of the day. Despite recovering from a torn bicep and rotator cuff injury which needed surgery, Matthew returned to the competitive scene storming through to take the gold medal. This saw him overcome opponents such as 4^th Dan Winston Gordon, a player who achieved 5^th place at the Athens Olympics 2004. This emphatic victory now means that Matthew has won the British Senior Trials in no less than three different weight categories as well as cementing his place as the country’s top judo player in the run-up to the Olympics next year. Representing Scotland in the same category was 20 year old Craig Stewart. After a bronze medal at the weight division below in the previous Senior Trials, Craig had his work cut out for him this time. However, despite being smaller and less experienced than most of the competition, he displayed admirable fighting spirit and rightfully earned himself a bronze medal and place on the Senior British Squad for the second year running. Although defeated by Winston Gordon, Craig gave it his all and had the crowd on their feet in excitement. Clinching the silver medal at -90kg was Glasgow-born Andy Burns who currently trains with Bath University. Andy should be proud of his performance, overcoming some quality fighters on the day.

Ratho-based fighter James Austin (-100kg), who recently moved up a weight category, put on a magnificent display of judo dexterity and proficiency. He won all of his four fights with the maximum ippon score, with each fight lasting less than two minutes on average. Big clean throws combined with excellent groundwork make James an exciting one to watch out for in the near future. John McFetrich, also fighting at -100kg, won a bronze medal. John put in a great performance and gave the crowd something to cheer about with some big throws.

In the heavyweight +100kg category Scotland was represented by both Christopher Sherrington and Gavin McNeill. Both fought well in this strong group, earning a silver and bronze medal respectively and putting themselves in the mix as a contender for Britain’s top heavyweight.

This has been a highly successful competition for the JudoScotland set-up of elite judo athletes. Congratulations should go out to all the players, regardless of whether or not they medalled, for their hard work and training ethic in preparation for the tournament. Finally, a huge thank you is due to JudoScotland’s coaches and helpers who make these sorts of outstanding results possible.

 By Oliver Triggs

Congratulations to the following athletes for their outstanding results: