Dragons breathe fire at the 2021 British Championships

 

Kin Ryu Judo Club are celebrating following an outstanding performances by the 8 athletes who represented the club at the 2021 British Championships. The British Championships are the premier event for the young athletes and a chance to fight for the title of British Champion.

Competing for the club in the cadet u18 section was Declan Knight u60kg, Joshua Browning u73kg and Megan Howe u48kg. Declan started well winning 3 of his first 4 contests. In the crossover he was caught with a great throw by his opponent and unable to progress to the medal fights. Following him were Joshua Browning and Megan Howe. Both started well winning their 1st fights with a great throw.  they both lost the next 2 contests were unable to progress to the medal fights but should be proud of their 1st Cadet national championships.

In the pre cadet u15 section the club was represented by Zara Howe u36kg, Lucy Robinson u48kg, Rebecca Worrall u57kg, Daniil Grishin u46kg and Peter Crawford u73kg.

In the boys group Daniil Grishin was on fire winning his 1st 3 contests in style. In the semi-final he met an old adversary and following an 8 minute contest it was his opponent who emerged victorious and Dan took his place in the bronze medal contest. He made sure this was not to be repeated and won his fight with a great technique to take the bronze and his 1st national medal. 

Peter Crawford was also fighting well winning his semi-final contest in just 20 seconds to take his place in the final. After a great battle he was unable to take the last step and took a well deserved silver medal, one step better than the bronze medal he won in the u13 championships in 2019. 

It was then onto the girls and Rebecca was fighting at her 1st national championships, but she was determined to put in her best performance. Rebecca fought well, winning a place to compete for the bronze medal. In the bronze contest she was unlucky to be countered with a great throw so finished in 5th place just outside the medals.

Zara got her day off to a flying start winning a place in the final with a superb throw. In the final she was caught in the final 30 secs of the fight but came away with a fabulous silver medal. This adds to the u13 medal silver medal that she won in 2019.

The final athlete to compete was Lucy Robinson and she knew the pressure of the event having won gold at the u13 championships in both 2018 and 2019. Lucy got off to a great start winning her 1st fight in style. A close semi-final saw a narrow win but she took her place in the final. In the final she met a skillful Scottish opponent but her drive to succeed took her over the line and she retained her national title for the 3rd time in a row. An incredible achievement for a young athlete!

Kin Ryu coaches are proud of the hard work of all the club athletes through this difficult 2 years. All the players have worked hard to maintain their fitness and skill through the lockdown, and this weekend has seen their hard work rewarded.