Samurai High Grade 2011 – Results

On Sunday 13 November Arunas and William took part in the Samurai Senior High Grade Competition that was held at the Wyre Forest Glades Arena, Kidderminster.

Both young men were in the Men 1 Kyu category which was initially split by weight into six pool sheets of four or five competitors. Arunas was drawn in the first pool along with three other competitors; he lost his first contest by Ippon and then won his second when his opponent was disqualified for a leg grab. Arunas’s third opponent had withdrawn through injury and therefore Arunas secured second place in his pool and would proceed to the next round.

William was drawn in the second pool again with three other competitors, William stormed through his three contest winning two by Ippon Throws and one by Ippon Choke in a combined contest time of only 2 minutes and 25 seconds. Therefore William finished first in his pool and also secured a place in the next round.

Once the remaining four pool sheets had been fought the next round was drawn and Arunas and William were to face each other in the first contest. The contest went the full four minutes and Arunas took the win by a Yuko. This now put Arunas through and William would now only get bought back into the competition if Arunas made it through to the final.

Arunas won his next contest by Ippon throw putting him in the semi-final, he then continued his success winning the semi-final by Yuko after the full four minutes had elapsed, Arunas was now in the final and William was bought back into the competition.

William won his first contest of the repechage with an Ippon Throw putting him the Bronze final, William’s opponent was much heavier and stronger and eventually over powered William throwing him for Ippon, William finished in a credible fifth place.

The last contest of the day was Arunas in the final, Arunas had been injured in the previous contest but still wanted to compete, and he battled through for two minutes before eventually being held down for Ippon securing Arunas a second place.

Both of the young men fought brilliantly in this tough category that had competitors much heavier and older that our two young men.

They both also secured more valuable points towards gaining the black belt and now only need a further 20 points each before they can take their theory exam to complete the black belt criteria.