Dragons on fire at the 2022 British School Championships

 Kin Ryu judo club are celebrating following the performance of its athletes at the 2022 British Schools Championships. 

The Championships are open to school age children from year 6-13 and the club fielded and impressive 12 athletes at the event over the weekend.

In yr 6/7 the club was represented by 4 athletes Alex McKee u34kg, Bradley Dengate u34kg (adaptive) Viadotas Pulokas u38kg and Charlotte Crawford u57kg. For all of these athletes it was their 1st time stepping out on the national stage but all brought their best judo with them. Alex started well impressing everyone with his superb throwing skills to win a place in the bronze medal contest. After a close contest he was unable to take the win finishing with a credible 5th place. Bradley was also on fire showing some of his best judo as he stormed through his 1st contest and only narrowly lost the 2nd as he took the bronze medal in his group. 

In u38kg Viadotas out foxed his opponents winning his first 2 contests to make the semi-final. He was leading throughout but was caught with 1 second to go. In the bronze medal fight Viadotas fought hard to take the win and a bronze medal. 

In u57kg Charlotte took 2 excellent wins to make the semi-final. After a narrow defeat she took her place in the bronze medal fight, with an excellent throw and hold Charlotte won the bronze medal. 
                                                                                 

In the yr 8/9 age group Kin Ryu was represented by 5 athletes Zara Howe u36kg, Megan Howe u48kg, Rebecca Worrall u57kg, Sebbie Robottom u42kg and Peter Crawford u73kg. 

Zara fought well securing the bronze medal in her final contest of the day. This was followed by her sister Megan who after a tough 1st contest never looked back and blazed through the rest of her contests to also secure the bronze. Rebecca completed the day for the girls by also securing a bronze medal with a well-executed turn over and hold down.

In the boys, Sebbie was a surprise medallist competing at his 1st National event. He had trained hard for the event and this showed as he boldly won his 1st 2 fights in style. He narrowly lost the 3rd to put him into the bronze medal fight where he beat his opponent in style to take the bronze medal. The last of the boys in this group was Peter Crawford who was determined to better the British silver medal he won in December. Peter was un stoppable as he threw all his opponents for ippon (full point) to take the gold and title of British School Champion 2022.

In the school yr 10-11 Kin Ryu was represented by Daniel Dunnigan u66kg and Mikey Porter u55kg. Both lads were in large groups but met the challenge head on. Daniel looked strong in both his fights but was unable to progress to the medal rounds on this occasion. Mikey started well beating an old rival in the 1st round. He won the next 2 before losing in the semi-final to compete in the bronze medal fight. After a tight contest he was caught with a good throw but too a well-deserved 5th place.

The last boys to compete were Louis Rothwell and Declan Knight in the u60kg yr 12-13 group. Both lads were on fire winning with some spectacular throws to both win bronzes.