UNSW Judo News April 2016 OCEANIA WIN PUTS MIRANDA ON TRACK FOR RIO UNSW VETERANS HAVE A GREAT DAY Naulu then beat Gouriou, which meant all three were equal on wins & points. Then came a major shemozzle as the officials tried to sort it out. Ivica was first IN THIS ISSUE: told he had made it to final, then to find The AIS Combat he missed out on the medal fights alto- Centre was gether! Unbelievable, and a cruel end to dressed up for OJU Championships the event his Olympic chances. The category eventually won by Eion Coughlan. Miranda Giambelli came all the way Queensland Interna- from Europe for one fight...but it was worth it as she won with sode over tional open Mel Wallis (below) and garnered 400 valuable selection points. State Titles The Oceania Judo Union (OJU) For Ivica Pavlinic there was bitter dis- Championships for 2016 were held appointment in 81kg. Ivica was drawn Kyu Grades comp over the weekend 8-10 April in the in a strong elimination pool. In his first makeshift venue of the combat fight he conceded a waza-ari early on centre at the Australian Institute of to tough Fijian Jo Naulu, but came UNSW People and Sport in Canberra. back strongly to win by ippon. His next Events The tournament was the last chance fight was a disaster, caught by a stran- for OJU athletes to gain major points gle by Teva Gouriou (NCL). for Rio selections...a “make or break” And more... event for most Olympic hopefuls. Unfortunately, compliance with the restrictive IJF entry regulations meant that there was a poor entry list; sev- Australia dominated the results, taking eral weight categories having only all seven men's categories, and four of two or three athletes, which took the six women's contested. gloss off some of the results. The athletes face an anxious wait now as the final points are totted up and Nevertheless it was an emotional WRL places sorted. In some cases event, producing some extreme highs qualification will depend on the number & lows as dreams were realised, and of "duplicates" from other countries some hopes dashed. The tension in ahead of them. Olympic rules permit the air was palpable as it came down Ivica vs Naulu (FIJ) only one entrant per country in each to those final contests. weight category. IT’S OUR 60TH BIRTHDAY!! THIS YEAR WE’RE CELEBRATING SIXTY YEARS OF UNSW JUDO. SIXTY YEARS OF THROWS, BREAKFALLS, ARMLOCKS, STRANGLES, SWEAT, CHAMPIONS, KIDS JUDO AND FUN! WE’RE PROUD TO HAVE BECOME THE BIGGEST CLUB IN AUSTRALIA. HELP US CELEBRATE AT OUR GALA DINNER ON 28 OCTOBER (YES, THAT’S JIGORO’S BIRTHDAY TOO) MORE DETAILS LATER ON OUR WEBSITE. FOR ALL THE NEWS SAVE THE DATE! VISIT OUR WEBSITE www.unswjudo.net.au OJU CHAMPIONSHIPS Cont’d There are only two more chances for our With the conclusion of the “main game”, the All our guys fought well, and all took medals. athletes to gain points before the selection attention of the UNSW contingent focussed Rob outclassed his division, winning all fights period ends at the end of May, but we can't on the veterans’ competition on the final day by ippon, showing off his throwing and newaza expect too much from them in the way of of the championships. In a strongly sup- skills. Sylvain was also impressive, not only results. Eyes will also be on the results of ported event, UNSW had four members fight- the remaining Continental championships in ing - Rob Maurency, Con Dimos, Sylvain winning his division, but taking bronze in the Africa, Europe and Panamerica, as these Lemoine and Roman Sulovsky. under 50yrs open category. Con Dimos had can also change the rankings. two ippon wins in taking his gold medal, and roman Sulovsky won bronze in his weight OJU Senior results category and silver in the over 50yrs Open. Men Well done to all! 60kg Josh Katz 66kg Nathan Katz 73kg Jake Bensted 81kg Eion Coughlan 90kg Sebastien Temesi 100kg Duke Didier +100kg Nicola Berard Women 48kg Chloe Rayner 52kg Justine Bishop NZL 57kg Darcina Manuel NZL 63kg Katharina Haecker 70kg Aoife Coughlan Our four medallists 78kg Miranda Giambelli Rob Maurency on the podium QUEENSLAND INTERNATIONAL OPEN The Queensland Open is one of the four Liesel Schmidt showed glimpses of what she is Sam Asher, also in his first major event, major points scoring events on the Na- capable of in the same category, giving away proved to be a tough competitor, but was a tional calendar. As such, it is a “must” years experience, but going down fighting in both bit out of his depth against dan grade oppo- for serious athletes wishing to maintain her matches. nents. Sam gained some good experience, their national ranking. though. With many fighters unavailable for various reasons, UNSW fielded a small team this year, and came away with mixed results. Best for us on the weekend was Ryan Koenig, who was untroubled to win his senior boys 45kg category. Ryan’s judo is improv- ing rapidly, and it was a pity he didn’t have stronger opposition to test him. In the seniors, Dave Jordan fought strongly to take silver in a very competitive 81kg, losing out in the final to his emerging rival Anthony Kouros. It is pleasing to see Dave’s Matt Peppas bronze in cadets 73kg throwing techniques getting better with each Heidi and Liesel battle for bronze in 63kg outing. Amy Meyer took second in a depleted Matt Peppas took bronze in the cadet men women’s 48kg, going down by yuko to Caro- Tin Pavlinic, although out of training, and having 73kg. Matt showed flashes of what he is line Hain in the final. a run at 100kg, did well to also take bronze. His capable of, and with consistency will be a Kiarn Kelly had a bad day, losing her first fine ippon win over Aldo Rozic showed good fight, and having to withdraw when she ag- judo. force in this division. gravated a knee injury. Dave takes on Anthony Kouros Amy ties up Emily Conran (QLD) in 48kg Heidi Wright was severely hampered by a Overall, a relaxing weekend away for our recent ankle injury, but still fought well to guys, and many thanks to Kylie for making Tin’s great uchimata on Aldo Rozic take bronze in the 63kg. our accommodation arrangements. UNSW PEOPLE AND EVENTS .There was a HUGE kids Our youngest dan grade. Giorgia Goutzas is on the way to grading on 19 March... 105 Welcome to Evan Pullinger, recovery from recent knee surgery. kids graded! It was a busy and congratulations to Mark Giorgia has begun her rehabilitation, afternoon. Thanks to the and Rebecca on their new and her attitude is an example and grading panel, and espe- arrival. Looks like he has al- inspiration. She is back in the dojo, cially to all those members ready bypassed the kids’ judo conscientiously doing her exercises who turned up to help out program! and staying fit. on the day with administra- tion and the fund raising barbecue. IJF events Ivica Pavlinic continued his quest for WRL points, compet- ing in the Grand Prix in Tbilisi A brief visit by French Judoka on 26 March. Ivica had a first Sofiane Bellal, in Sydney during round win vs Milichovsky March. Sofiane managed to get in (SVK) with an ippon counter, then unfortunatey lost to the some training before returning for a eventual gold medallist competition in France. Khubetsov from RUS. NSW STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS The 2016 State championships was a huge UNSW volunteers were many, and helped to In the “littlies” Iakov Ivanets was a clear winner, day for Judo NSW, with a record number make the event run smoothly. Thanks to all as was Sasha Spasska. Special mention must of entries, and a credit to the organisers, who contributed. also be made of Josh Koenig, who took second who moved the competition along all day. in his very first competition. Aiden Miu, Cormac UNSW alone had some 35 participants, Hickey and Elijah Raif also did very well and will and emerged with eight State champions gain a lot of confidence through their efforts. for 2016. Importantly for the club, there were good results across all age groups. Our new cadets had a strong outing, even Several of our youngsters were making though none could quite manage gold...Jordan their competition debut, while others were Bond was a a bit tentative in taking second in fighting in new age groupings...always a the 66kg, while Will Crouch and Josh Devine tough challenge. had their usual personal rivalry in the 55kg. Will edged out Josh for second, with Josh in third place. Matt Peppas atoned for his disappointing outing in cadets by winning the junior men 73kg. Winners on the day for UNSW were juniors: In the senior men Henry Han took first place in a Iakov Ivanets, Sasha Spasska, Dylan Katz, depleted 66kg category, and Sylvain Lemoine Ryan Koenig and Dylan Nguyen, and in the was in a class of his own in the 73kg, winning as seniors Matt Peppas (cadet men 73kg) Henry he pleased, every fight by ippon. Han (66kg) and Sylvain Lemoine (63kg). Good to see Dylan Katz and Ryan Koenig Our two senior women had satisfying results – continue their run of successes now that they Matle Fung taking third in the 57kg, and Liesel are in the senior boys’ division, and for Dylan Schmidt second in the 63kg. Liesel improves Nguyen to get back on track after an absence with every competition, and will soon be a force through injury.