Northern Ireland Open 2018

A successful weekend in Ireland with 3 Gold, 1 Silver and 3 bronze medals, plus 2 5th and 1 7th place finishes from 8 players.

Saturday was for the Juniors and Seniors. Terri (U52kg) and Elle (U63kg), Terri was unlucky to lose her first fight after throwing for wazari and rolling into a hold down. She won her next fight, but was unfortunate to lose her 3rd, placing her at 7th.  Elle lost her first fight and won her following 3, the first fight being the decider in the pool, meaning she took silver despite having the same wins and points.  

Elle then joined Steph (U57kg) in the Seniors competition.  Elle won her pool, and made the semi final, where she had to tap out due to an injury she had picked up earlier in the day, so she took home the bronze.  Steph won all 4 of her fights, her first lasting just 16 seconds, and took a well deserved gold.

Sunday saw 6 cadets take to the mat, including Terri who fought in the juniors the day before.  She won her first fight, but then came up against club-mate Tatum (U52kg) in the next round, and lost that match. She won her next fight, then lost for bronze against the number 2 seed, and so finished 5th.  Tatum won all of her fights in a total of less than 1 and a half minutes in a  professional display, taking the gold medal.

Ozzy and Alex were both fighting in the U60kg category. Ozzy won his first two fights, and lost the pool final. Alex won his first and lost his second, so both went down to the repechage.  Alex fought back with two win, only to meet Ozzy in the bronze medal fight, which Ozzy won in golden score. Bronze for Ozzy, and 5th for Alex.

Ethan (U66kg) won his first fight and lost his second to the eventual gold medallist. She fought back with 3 more wins to take a well deserved bronze medal.  Ryan (U73kg) was unfortunate to lose his first fight against a German player, but battled through and won his pool, crossover fight and then the final, taking the gold medal.