ABBOTSFORD TOURNAMENT OCTOBER 18,2014
We had only 3 entries for this tournament which was a big disappointment in terms of participation from our membership. Last year, we had 10 entries in which 7 of our members had won Metals and in the previous year we had 12 entries.
The 3 who entered were all Novices and had no tournament experiences.
RESULTS:
EZRA WILSON ( under 10 division.) First tournament for Ezra. Had 3 matches and lost but I was encouraged by his performance on the Mat. Despite his limited experience, Ezra attempted his throws many times during his matches. He needed to follow through and finish his Techniques by pulling and turning more. Once Ezra gets into more competition, he will develop into a Competitive Fighter. The photos taken by Romain, one of our instructors, shows Ezra moving into his Opponents. To view the photos in full screen, click your mouse in the middle of the photo
GRACIE WILSON ( under 14 girls Advanced Division)
Gracie like her brother, Ezra, entered in her first tournament. Because there were only 4 females in this group, Gracie was put in the advanced group which had 2 green belts and 1 orange belt. The green belts have been in Judo since they were 6 or 7 years old so they are very experienced and very skillful. Her first match against the green belt from Prince George was very quick. She was thrown by a Ogoshi (Big Hip toss). Her opponent won this Division.
In her second match, which was against a very skilful girl from Williams Lake, pinned Gracie for a holddown. Gracie fought her for a good minute defending against her Taiotoshi attacks. Gracie countered with her Osotogari and Taiotoshi moves.
In her final match against an Orange Belt, Gracie was very aggressive, attacking her Opponent constantly with her favorite throw which is Osotogari. Gracie was not successful in throwing her Opponent because she did not take Kuzushi (unbalancing her opponent) nor make upper body contact against her. As a result, her Opponent countered one of her attempt and scored a Yuko (1/3 point). Her Opponent did not attack and was very defensive. She should have been assessed at least 2 penalties for being non combative. Instead Gracie was given a penalty for non action. The Referee was not paying a close attention to the match.
ANDREY PONOMAREV (under 14 boys)
This was Andrey first tournament. He started Judo in September so he entered the tournament with less than 2 months of Judo training. Like Gracie, there were only 4 boys in this group. He had to fight in the Advance group where there were 1 Orange/Green Belt and 2 Orange Belts.
Andrey won the GOLD. His father, Eduard took Video of his matches. From his first match, you could see that Andrey was cautious and a bit nervous. After that, he got his confidence and defeated both of his Opponents with Ippon. Here is a link to his matches
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PViaFwsrkGo
Romain also took photos of his matches.
