East Yorkshire Judo Academy accepted an invite by Klungsbacka Judoklubb to travel to Sweden for a weekend of competition and training.
The team of 7 players aged between 12 and 17 years old and along with 2 of EYJA’s coaches, made the trip to compete at the Gothenburg Open Judo Tournament. Klungsbacka Judo offered superb hospitality allowing the East Yorkshire squad to stay at their club.
On the day of competition, the EYJA players displayed their usual determination and skill with 5 of the 7 players finishing in the medals and the other 2 players only losing in the fight before a medal finish.
In only her second competition abroad fighting in the under 15yrs section Madeleine Kissenisky found herself up against nine other fighters from various countries. After sailing through the early rounds she secured a slim victory in the final during the golden score, after no score in normal time, to take the gold medal.
Fighting in the under 18 age group Ellesha Tennison (14yrs) took the silver medal, whilst Bronze medals went to Yasmine Katib, Spencer Cammish and Brad Woolcock. Mia Katib finished in 4th place, and in a larger group, Izzy Adams finished in a well-fought 5th place. Saturday evening saw the players relaxing and exploring the town of Klungsbacka before a game of ‘Shuffleboard’ at the local bowling alley.
On Sunday the players were back on the mat, for a day of training with many of the players that had fought the day before. This was a great opportunity for them to not only train with international partners from Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark etc but also to socialise. East Yorkshire Judo Academy was the only English team in attendance so the other players were also keen to talk to them!
Before they left, EYJA presented Klungsbacka Judo with a plaque to thank them for their very kind hospitality.
All of the players had a great weekend both on and off the mat and are looking forward to welcoming Klungsbacka Judoklubb to Hull and Beverley in the new year. Tommy Jackson and Logan Campbell are back in mainland Europe this weekend representing England, fighting in the European Cup in Slovenia.
