The Heart Of England 12-09-2004
Silver Force
SILVER REIGN: Michael Pedders dedication and resolve paid off at The Heart Of England Judo Tournament at Birmingham’s National Indoor Arena. Michael won silver in the under 50kgs and was one of five local players from Yama Arashi Ryu, Kallaki and Harwich and Dovercourt with over 900 entrants from the UK and Europe.
This event is one of the biggest in the Judo Calendar and always produces high quality judo.
Hannah and Kirsty Adams experience at this event worked in their favour this year and both sisters won fights in the under 52kg and under 57kg groups for the first time. After some outstanding wins the girls both narrowly lost in the repechage fights for bronze.
For Harwich and Dovercourt players Jodie Roberts and Matt Edwards this was their first time entering this event and was a memorable day for them.
After a shaky start Jodie Roberts Under 52 kg settled to produce some excellent judo that saw her win the second round fight that ensured she could fight in the repercharge for the bronze. Unfortunately after three minutes of strong competition Jodie unfortunately lost on a penalty and that ended her competition.
For her team mate matt it was a very long day after weighing in at 8.30am he didn’t fight until 5.45pm. After such a long wait matt put in a strong performance having to fight against British National Players in the under 66Kgs. He was unfortunate not to progress this time but he will be back next year to try again with more of the Tendring Team.
The level of the judo at the event was very high, with many of the British Junior Team in attendance the groups were very hard to medal in. All the team players fought extremely well, they are looking forward to next year’s event to get one step further up the medal table.
MICHAEL’S MAGIC
With new found confidence Michael and fellow competitors attended the Northern Home Counties Trials. This is a selection event for the British Cadet Nationals at the end of the year. Players who come first and second are selected to represent their area in the National event at Stoke-On-Trent to earn a place on the British Cadet Team.
Competition was strong with players from major clubs in London in attendance, from the Tendring Team four players stepped up to the challenge, Michael Pedder, Kirsty and Hannah Adams and Jodie Roberts.
For the twins it was their second time, having qualified last year and narrowly missed out on the medals at the Nationals in 2003. For Jodie it was her first bite of the cherry.
After some time waiting Michael was called up to fight in the under 50kg category, usually being drawn against older and higher graded players, this time was no exception. Michael was to fight a bigger boy of superior strength. Not being deterred Michael began strong not allowing his opponent to dominant the fight, as the fight continued frustration set in on his opponent and making a mistake Michael capitalised with a sacrifice throw that was very hard to do successfully but Michael performed it to an excellent level.
Having thrown his opponent he then held him down for an exciting and breath taking 25seconds to win. Having only one big opponent in his group Michael has successfully qualified for the nationals in the number 1 position.
Kirsty’s story was happy and sad not having to fight to qualify being the only person in her weight group her grade, but this means that she qualifies automatically for the Nationals and she is aiming to medal at the event, to finally earn her place on the team.
Her sister and Jodie were unlucky to be in the same weight and year group, after there first round fights both the girls left themselves a lot to do, as the only spots open are one and two. The girls had to fight each other, which is a coaches nightmare as this fight and the next would decide which out of the two would go through as number two. After a well fought fight Hannah won with a full score throw. After this Hannah continued on her winning streak to win the next fight after a loss in the first round fight. Jodie although fought hard was not lucky enough to win her next fight. This left her in the 3rd spot.
The Club coach said they fought well at a very high pressure event with such a prize on the line it always produces high quality judo. For Jodie she will be back next year to claim her place on the Northern Home Counties Team. As for the three that qualified, their support team and myself hope they can go one better at the nationals and win a medal.
