This year’s Wellington Open was like a giant sigh of relief uttered by the whole New Zealand Judo Community.
Competitors from all the different Area Associations were present. There were some people who didn’t make it because of the usual winter maladies, including, this time Covid.
Those gathered were privileged to see some excellent Judo on display, most noticeably the return of Jason King and Bevan Brooking of Gisborne, whose incredible skills swept aside all before them.
Several judoka from around the country competed in Sunday’s Nage no Kata division with a view to grading to Shodan.
Five of the Academy firm were missing due to illness.
The Team: Zach Snow, Cameron Clarke, Griffin Burkhart, Kieran Masuda-Morgan, Sean Masuda-Morgan, Aurie Tzeng, Alexis Tzeng, Roberta Griffiths, Lucinda Griffiths, Luca Talarkiewicz, Angus Hall, Nat Elliott, Sergey Arykov, Alex MacMillan, Malcolm Wilson
The Haul:
Gold – Luca T, Angus H, Kieran M (2), Roberta G, Lucinda G, Alexis T (2), Malcolm W (Uncontested)
Silver – Aurie T, Sean (2), Nat E, Roberta G.
Bronze – Alex M, Sean M, Aurie T, Lucinda G.
Thanks to Karen Parker of Kapiti JC for loaning bits of her judogi to a couple of growth spurting Academy kids, the organizers for running a slick operation with several of the Wellington Clubs not providing their share of volunteers, and everybody’s favourite uncle, Dave Browne, for his understanding.
An excellent weekend for the Academy.
