Olympians pave the way to success at British Championships

Hundreds of judoka fought at the 2013 British Championships that took place at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield on Sunday 15 December and 14 emerged victorious with British titles.

It was non-stop action for Sally Conway who became -70kg champion for the seventh time as she swept the board with a smooth succession of ippons.

Fresh from winning a bronze medal in the Jeju Grand Prix, Conway said: “It feels good to end the year with another British Championship title, especially since it comes off the back of Korea.”

Fellow Olympians Colin Oates (-66kg) and Ashley McKenzie (-60kg) also scored ippon after ippon to win the British title of their respective weight groups.

Oates, who reclaimed his title, said:: “It was tough as I faced some really good players. In particular the final fight against Nathon Burns was not easy. He is such a hard worker and always pushes me.”

European bronze medallist McKenzie started with a hat-trick of throws, one by one beating Daniel Powell, Iwan Davies and Jordan Knight.

He said: “I’m very pleased to end the year with a British Championship title. My route to gold involved ippons all the way, including the final fight too.”

Another Olympian, in the shape of Gemma Howell of Wolverhampton became the -63kg British Champion for 2013.

Royal Marine Chris Sherrington, also an Olympic veteran fought his way back to become +100kg British Champion after an injury-plagued year.

His journey to gold involved a series of ippons in all rounds, apart from his win when Matthew Bryce was penalised for hansoku make.

Meanwhile, aspiring Olympian Nekoda Davis won her very first British Championship title.

She showed great stamina as one of her fights turned into an almost ten minute battle against the 2013 Junior British Champion Bekky Livesey.

The contest entered into a golden score period and in the end, Davis won when Livesey was penalised for hansoku make, although it spoiled her almost perfect run of ippons up until this point.

After this, she found herself in a golden score period, where she eventually threw Connie Ramsay for ippon before going on to beat Lele Nairne with a hold down.

Davis’ route to gold also involved a round one victory by waza-ari awasete over Rebecca Pierce before throwing Kirstin Gray for ippon.

Speaking after the event, she said: “This is the first time I have won the British Championships and it feels good to get the job done. It’s good to know that I am mentally and physically fit enough to prevail and when the tough gets going, I’ll never be the first to crack.”

Meanwhile, Hayley Willis did the double to become both Junior and Senior British Champion of 2013 in the -48kg category. She scored a fantastic win against Kimberley Renicks in the final pool and Kelly Edwards was also crowned -52kg British Champion.

Lead Coach for the Women’s GB team Kate Howey said: “There were some solid performances today and I am pleased to see Sally Conway confirm her position as number one at -70kg.

“It was good to see Gemma Howell back as British Champion and very encouraging to see the youngsters coming through and medalling, such as Lele Nairne and Bekky Livesey at the -57kgs.

“Nekoda had some hard fights but she showed that she was the better player today in a tough field.”

Welsh judoka Natalie Powell put in solid performances to earn her title of -78kg British Champion. According to Team GB’s lead Coach Kate Howey, the next year will be interesting to watch how she pushes forward in the same category as Olympian Gemma Gibbons.

Meanwhile, S.K.K’s Owen Livesey took the -81kg British Champion title, the winner of the -90kg British Championship title was David Groom of BKC and Pinewood’s Benjamin Fletcher, who is also a member of Team Bath became -100kg British Senior Champion.

A full list of medallists can be found below.

Edinburgh’s Sally Conway took gold in the women’s -70kg category.

Megan Fletcher gained the silver medal and Natasha Maslen and Rachel Moon both collected bronze.

In the -48kg category Hayley Willis of Stratford took gold to become Senior British Champion.

The silver medal went to Kim Renicks of Kanokwai, while Harkirat Sekhon and Caroline Broadley won bronze.

Natalie Powell of WJA Academy became -78kg British Champion.

Silver went Caroline Kinnane of Renukan as Sally Moon and Carrie Ann Thompson secured bronze.

Kelly Edwards was crowned -52kg British Champion. Emily Hickman took silver and Kelly Staddon and Samantha Clark both secured bronze

Wolverhampton’s Gemma Howell became the -63kg British Champion for 2013.

Edinburgh’s Sarah Clark took silver, while Lucy Renshall of Warrington and Jodie Mullen of Judo Scotland secured bronze.

Sarah Adlington also from Edinburgh won gold and claimed the title of -78kg British Champion. S.K.K’s Jodie Myers seized silver while bronze medals went to Michelle Boyle and Kirsty Guest.

Ealing’s Nekoda Davis was crowned -57kg champion.
S.K.K’s Bekky Livesey took silver as Lele Nairne of Bradley Stoke and Connie Ramsay took bronze.

Camberley’s Ashley McKenzie was this year’s -60kg British Champion.
Ryecroft’s Sam Hall seized silver while Graham Trinder and Adam Conroy from Team Bath both gained bronze.

Kumo’s Colin Oates became -66kg Champion.
Gregg Varey from Team Bath won silver while Nathon Burns and Aaron Turner from Camberley took bronze medals.

Jan Gosiewski from Team Bath is -73kg British Champion. 

Edinburgh’s Patrick Dawson seized silver, while Curtis Dodge and Daniel Williams took the bronzes.

Winner of the -90kg British Championship title is David Groom of BKC. 

Gary Hall of Ryu Genki stepped onto the podium to collect a silver while Beach’s Andrew Burns and Samuel Potts of Team Bath picked up bronzes.

S.K.K’s Owen Livesey secured the -81kg British Champion title.
Jidel’s Scott Imrie gained a silver medal while Lordswood Budukan’s Max Stewart and Ernest Bevin Phoenix’s Adam Hoshal took bronze.

The -100kg British Senior Champion was Benjamin Fletcher of Team Bath and Pinewood.

He was joined on the podium by fellow Team Bath judoka Adam Hall who celebrated silver success. Bronzes went to Philip Awiti-Alcaraz and James Austin.

+100kg gold went to Chris Sherrington with Neil Schofield taking silver and Matthew Bryce and Samson Omonua bronze.

Words by Donna Richardson. Images Mike Varey.