Belgian Open
Just five days on from the success of the British Open and our full time group were on their way to Belgium with the men and women split; preparing for battle at opposite ends of the country.
With British Judo planning to announce the European Championship team this week Belgium was the last chance to stake a claim for selection. At the mens event this was certainly apparent with a large British entry including European medallists Peter Cousins and Winston Gordon, and new rising star of the -66kg category Jean-Rene Badrick taking to the mat alongside Edinburgh’s Matt Purssey, Euan Burton, Iain Feenan, James Millar and Chris Sherrington .
Belgium is notorious for being one of the toughest B tournaments not just because of the quality of opposition but also the sheer size of the event. It is not unheard of for there to be 100+ competitors in some weights and in the past British Teams have often returned home empty handed with no medals to show for their efforts.
Teams from Japan, Cuba, Russia, Ukraine, USA, Canada, Sweden, Italy, France, Germany, Czech Republic and of course Belgium meant that 2007 was likely to be as hard as ever.
On Saturday James Millar (-60kg) and Iain Feenan (-73kg) were first to step up to the mark and take a shot at that all elusive Belgian medal. Millar made a shaky start in a fight that saw him behind until the last second of the match before pulling out a sacrifice throw at the death to win by Ippon on the buzzer. Not the way he would have planned to start but from then on he looked increasingly confident dispatching two players in quick succession to reach the semi final. Just one more win would see him on the podium. The Ukranian Junior European Champion however had other plans and although James was always in the fight the Ukranian did enough to stay ahead and make the final leaving Millar with a bronze medal match for the second weekend in a row. A tight fight against a scrappy and sometimes outright negative Frenchman ultimately left James frustrated as he failed to scrape back an early score. A 5th place, although a good result in Belgium does little justice to James’ performance and will surely leave a sour taste in his mouth for some time to come.
Iain Feenan knew it would be a long hard day from the start. The -73kg was the biggest weight of the weekend and with 91 players to get past it would take something more than a little special to finish on top of the category. Iain started well with Ippon wins in his first two fights but eventually faltered against Schendal of Germany. Schendal, the 2006 German Open Champion, reached the semi final which brought Iain back into the repochage but he failed to progress and ended up outside the placings with 2 wins and 2 losses.
On the second day of competition Euan Burton and Matthew Purssey were both in action at -81kg. Among the 79 players attempting to take the title was Italian Guiseppe Maddeloni, Olympic Gold medallist in Sydney 2000 and possibly the biggest threat to Burton and Purssey chance of a medal. Both players won their first three fights in emphatic style to reach the quarter finals and for a brief moment some British supporters may have been looking forward to an all G.B final. However Purssey lost his quarter final and although Burton made it one step closer he could not squeeze past the No1 Cuban in the semi. In the bronze medal match Euans superior condition saw him winning by Ippon late in a match that he was always ahead in. Matt finished in 7th place with some good wins in this heavier weight class. Maddeloni again showed the qualities that led him to Olympic glory in Sydney winning the final and leaving the Cuban with the silver.
Chris Sherrington had a tough draw and his first round loss to a strong French player meant disappointment for our heavyweight hopeful as this was his only match of the competition.
Burtons bronze was one of just 3 medals from all British competitors at the competition and may be the first male Belgian Open medal to be won by an Edinburgh Club player (please correct me if I’m wrong!)
The women’s event in Arlon proved to be just as strong. Two of the best teams in womens world judo, Japan and Cuba, were out in force giving the event a real world class edge. The Edinburgh Club had four players at the competition, Sarah Adlington, Sally Conway, Kirstene Feenan and Connie Ramsay.
Connie had a good day on the Saturday Junior Event winning two matches but the high level of the senior tournament and perhaps some fatigue from fighting the day before meant she didn’t show her best on the Sunday at -63kg.
Kirstene Feenan ended up with just one win from three fights at -52kg but anyone could have been forgiven for thinking she had been hit by a refereeing curse before the competition even started. In one of her losses she attempted a sacrifice throw only to be awarded an Ippon against her and in the other loss she threw her opponent with a pick up but the score was put on the wrong side of the scoreboard. When this was brought to the referees attention he seemed to have lost all memory and would not change the score back leaving coach David Somerville irate but without any power to reverse the decision.
In the -70kg category Sally Conway came through her pool, winning two fights and losing to the Cuban eventual silver medallist. Her day came to an end with a loss in the knockout stages to an erratic Belgian.
That just leaves Adlington. In a weight with two Cuban competitors this was to be a much tougher test than the British Open but Sarah still managed to make it to the medal matches. In the bronze medal fight she lost to Konitz of Germany and so ended her day with a 5th place.
So no medals for the women but David was encouraged by the performances of all the girls at this high level especially as not one of them is over 21 yrs old.
Look out for a report from the Paris Super World Cup next weekend where Sarah Clark will be the only member of the British team fighting. The rest of the squad will join her for the training camp on the 12th-16th Feb.