Autumn Competition Success

Keisen Judo Club's James and Elizabeth Draper rounded off a tough autumn campaign with medal success at the Clacton International.

James and Elizabeth started their campaign at the Heart of England Judo Championships held at Birmingham's National Indoor Arena on 7th September. This event attracted more than 1000 competitors from Britain and Europe and is one of the two main England Squad selection events for junior and youth players. James fighting at under 18 yrs -55kg did not make the final rounds but did put in an outstanding performance against former National silver medallist Adam Conroy. Elizabeth competing at this level for the first time in the under 14 yrs -52kg class produced one of her best performances being narrowly beaten by the Welsh National Champion to finish in 5th place.

A month later, the brother and sister duo were in action again competing at the British Championships held in Sheffield for 12 to 19 year olds. This event attracted around 800 competitors from across the UK to fight at the weekend long event held on the 11th and 12th October. Once again James put in a magnificent performance just missing out on the semi-final to the eventual silver medallist. He ended the day with a narrow defeat to former National bronze medallist Damon Pegg, losing by a single penalty. Elizabeth continued to prove she is a force to be reckoned with by producing another 5th place performance. Her progress was made all the more impressive by her appearance in the semi-final at her first ever National Championships. Coach Tim Draper stated "This now puts Elizabeth right on the fringes of the England squad setup, with a little more work she has all the potential to break into the full squad".

The following weekend the pair were joined by team-mates Jessica Plumtree and Sophie Cummings at the Clacton International tournament on Sunday 19th October. This event was attended by a high quality field of domestic and international competitors from the UK and Holland.

The Keisen team delivered a superb performance culminating in bronzes for James (-55kg youth) and Jessica (-57kg junior). James needed a full ippon win from his last contest to secure the medal and did not dissappoint, winning with an impressive taiotoshi throw. A second bronze went to Jessica Plumtree, who notched up two impressive wins against formidable Dutch opposition on her way to winning bronze. Notable performances also came from Sophie Cummings and Elizabeth Draper. Sophie put in a great performance against tough opposition and Elizabeth fought despite having not fully recovered from illness.

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