Medals for Tommy and Maddy at the British Judo Championships!

The British Judo Championships is the most important tournament on the judo calendar for all of the high-level judoka from across the four home nations. East Yorkshire Judo Academy attended the competition for the Pre-Cadet and Cadet age band over Saturday and Sunday of the past weekend (under 15’s and under 18’s). The British Championships attracts the very best players and so East Yorkshire Judo Academy are very proud to have two of their players finish the day with Bronze medal placings.

Fighting in the Pre-Cadet Girls -48kg category was Maddy Kissenisky, being a popular weight group for her age (13) Maddy had 24 girls to contend with. In the opening round she made light work of her opponent winning the fight within the first 5 seconds! Maddy progressed through the preliminary rounds only losing the semi-final to the eventual Gold medallist. In a closely fought Bronze medal match Maddy looked the dominant player and with 30 seconds to go she scored a waza-ari (seven points) with a rear facing throw. Defending her lead Maddy controlled the remaining few seconds and finished victorious earning herself the Bronze medal and a right to stand on the podium at the British Championships.

James Hindle, Eleanor Buckle, Mason Campbell and Ellesha Tennison all represented East Yorkshire Judo Academy over the weekend reaching various stages within the competition. James was unfortunate to be pitted against the number one seed in his first fight but still put on a good show displaying his ever-improving skill set. Eleanor had a tough day still getting used to her new weight group but as always she fought with the courage and determination that are great assets to her Judo. Ellesha was again pitted against a highly skilled black belt in her first fight and a loss put her into repechage. She came back strong winning her second fight with ease and in quick time. Her third and final fight was a nail biter with Ellesha only just losing out in a well fought contest.

Tommy Jackson (15) fighting in the Cadet boys -60kg category was another EYJA team member that was determined to do well. In another well populated category with 44 participants, Tommy had a tough draw with all of his fights to be against players ranked in the top 10 of the UK. He started the days’ account well with an Ippon throw (10 points and stopping the match early) and went on to have a second fight that went deep into Golden Score. Tommy eventually defeated his opponent and continued to progress through the competition until a loss in the semi-final against the number one seed saw him head into a Bronze medal fight. Another close fight ensued but Tommy was looking like the more attacking player. Against the run of the match Tommy went down by a waza-ari and was trailing in points. His vast competition experience kicked in and he quickly levelled the match. Tommy was now hungry for the win and with another throw he scored a second waza-ari which gave him the win and the Bronze medal. Tommy was also the highest finishing English player in his category.

Next weekend it’s the turn of the Juniors (under 21’s) where Tommy Jackson will be fighting again and joined by his team-mates Sean Tooby and Logan Campbell. We wish them the best of luck in what will be another hard-fought contest.
East Yorkshire Judo Academy can be contacted by email on danny@eastyorkshirejudoacademy.com.

Photo caption: Maddy Kissenisky and Tommy Jackson are in the far right of the photographs.