Kin Ryu Dragons dominate at the English Closed Championships

Kin Ryu Judo Club are celebrating after a fantastic return to competition at the English Closed Championships. It's been 18 months since judo competitions in Great Britain were forced to stop but the team were determined to come back strongly.

The pre cadet (U15yrs) boys started the day with Dan Grishin, u46kg storming through his group to make the final. In the final, a superb throw saw him take the gold and the title of English Champion 2021. Next to fight were Sam Tang and Tyler Hill both competing in the u50kg group. Again the boys made strong starts to the day winning all of their early contests with ippon to see an all Kin Ryu final with Sam coming out on top and taking the gold and the title with Tyler taking a well-deserved silver. The last pre cadet boy to fight was Peter Crawford in u66kg and he continued the winning streak also fighting strongly to take the gold and the title of England Champion.

In the pre cadet girls Zara Howe moved up a weight to u36kg but still showed great dominance winning a bronze medal with a superb throw. Lucy Robinson u48kg was up next and like always showed great power as she won all her early fights to meet an old rival in the final. It was not to be her final this time and she had to settle for the silver medal. The last pre cadet to fight was Charlotte Crawford u57kg and this was her first time competing at this level. Charlotte showed great grit and determination but was unable to medal on this occasion.

 

In the cadets (U18yrs) the boys were all stepping into a new age bracket with new challenges. Aidan Tang and Louis Rothwell u55kg stepped up first in a large competitive group. Both were fighting well in the early rounds taking multiple wins to get to the final 8. Louis lost in the recharge to finish 7th with his opponent moving forward to meet Aidan in the bronze medal fight. After a close battle it was Aidan who came through to take the bronze. In u60kg Declan Knight was on fire winning his first 5 contests in style to make it through to the final. In the final he was just beaten but took a fantastic silver medal. The final cadet boy was Josh Browning in u73kg. Despite a fantastic start Josh lost in the crossover so was unable to progress to the medal fights.

In the cadet girls Mia Goode u63kg started strongly winning her first contests with great techniques. In the recharge she was unable to win her last contest and finished in 7th place. Rhian Hooker u70kg also found herself in a tough group and took some valuable experience but was unable to make it to the medal fights on this occasion. In the +70kg Bianca Plesa fought well to get to the bronze fight and was able finish the day on a high winning a bronze medal.