Samurai Grade Band 2012 – Results
On Sunday 20 May Connor Tait, Ethan Ward and Conor Humphreys travelled to Kidderminster to compete in the Samurai Grade Bands.
Connor was up first in the Red Belt section he had three other competitors in his group and needed three wins to take gold. In his first contest he threw his opponent for Ippon just before the end of contest. His second contest was much quicker and again he threw his opponent for Ippon he now had only to win his final fight for Gold. In the final Connor was determined not to be beaten and again threw his opponent by way of an Ippon throw with the Red Belt favourite O-Soto-Otoshi.
Ethan was next in the Boys Yellow and Orange Belt category. In his first contest Ethan threw his opponent for Ippon and secured his first win of the day. In the second contest his opponent was injured during the contest and had to withdraw. Ethan was back on form in his third contest besting his opponent for Ippon with his favourite Koshi-Guruma. Just his last contest to win and secure the Gold, unfortunately he was dispatched by his opponent for Ippon and this resulted in a Bronze medal for Ethan.
Conor was to fight next in the Samurai Judo Club’s new dojo which is a great facility, Conor had just returned back to judo after a lengthy break due to numerous injuries and was eager to get back into competing. He was in the Green and Blue belt category along with four other competitors, in his first contest he was out matched and was thrown early on for an Ippon. In the second contest he was a lot more confident and threw his opponent for Ippon in under 15 seconds and now had two left to compete. The third contest was difficult with his opponent dominating the contest as he was much stronger than Conor, eventually Conor was thrown for Ippon. One final contest and Conor could relax, he was now tiring and early in the fight he made a mistake that cost him the contest and allowed him to be thrown for Ippon. The one win however was enough to secure a Bronze medal in his comeback to judo.
Videos of all the contests can be viewed below:
