Chloe Lymer has kickstarted the autumn season with two strong competition performances at a high level.
Chloe contested the English Closed at the beginning of September, scoring a good win in her first fight before conceding defeats in her next two contests.
Chloe finished this up with a gold medal winning performance at the Surrey Open, beating players from a heavier weight group with a combination of throws and holds.
To round it off, Chloe has successfully passed her examination for 12th mon.
The Easter break was bookended by excellent competition results.
Chloe Lymer regained her Hampshire title at the Hampshire Closed held in Eastleigh at the beginning of the holiday. Three straight wins saw her comfortably secure the gold medal.
Chloe has upped her training regime, and is now also training at the renowned Camberley Judo Club.
Connor McCormack and Harry Webb made their competition debuts at the red and yellow belt event organised by Holbrook Judo Club. Connor came within a hair’s breadth of securing gold, but eventually had to settle for silver. Harry Webb secured a well deserved bronze medal.
After a break caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the Hampshire Open was back for the first time since 2019. This year’s edition was held at Fleming Park Leisure Centre on Sunday 17 July.
Three Court Lane players attended – German, making his British Judo debut, Chloe and Michael.
German had a bye in the first round, and won his 2nd round fight convincingly with maki komi. HE had the misfortune to come up against the eventual gold medal in his next fight, and was caught with a perfect standing seoi nage for ippon.
Dropping into the repechage, German was held down in his bronze medal contest, to finish 5th overall.
Michael continues to grow into a capable adult player. He won his first quickly, throwing for ippon. His next fight was against the eventual gold medallist (who today won gold at the World Police and Fire Games…). Michael was footswept on the second attempt, for ippon. Michael bounced back to win his next fight, again with a clean throw for ippon, but was thrown himself in the next contest.
Chloe was a late entry, after some heroic contests at the recent Kent International, where was unlucky not to come higher. Ina pool of four players, Chloe lost her first two fights but won her last, to score a third place and bronze medal.
Court Lane Judo Club returned to competition after a long hiatus due to the Covid pandemic, when three players entered the 2022 Hampshire Closed.
Lewis Hook secured gold in his category, winning all his fights with ippon.
Chloe Lymer fought in a group where three three different weight groups were combined, securing a silver medal.
Michael Churcher made his full senior debut, and had seven excellent contests. Michael beat some higher graded players and was unlucky to just miss out on a medal.
Well done everyone!
Thanks also to the players who made the effort to come along and support – it was greatly appreciated.
Due to the pandemic, it’s been a while since we had any competition results to celebrate.
Even when clubs reopened, competitions were a way behind, with players being asked to evidence so many hours of practice beforehand.
Two players associated with the Club have ventured back out onto the competition circuit, with great success.
Jonty Bassil, representing the Royal Navy, won gold at the Samurai club in Kidderminster in October, and picked up points towards his black belt – well done Jonty!
Chloe Lymer joined a team from Holbrook Judo Club to take part in a competition at another Samurai Judo Club, this time in Southampton, returning with a well deserved silver medal.
Congratulations to both players! We hope to see more players returning to competition next year as we continue to come out of the pandemic.
Michael was our sole representative at this year’s National Championships, following in the footsteps of Brett Caswell, Andy Gould, Lewis Dolman and Ben Garside. Michael went toe to toe with those seeking to establish themselves as the best in the country.
Despite having fought for most of the year at -73kg, Michael managed to slip in to the -66kg category. This category was made up of 48 players, so a real test of character!
A bye in the first round secured automatic progression to the second round. A loss here by two waza-aris put Michael in to the repechage.
A great ippon throw to win secured progression through to the next contest, where Michael was ultimately armlocked by a Dan grade player.
Overall, a very credible performance from Michael, with a lot of positives and some areas to improve on ready for next year.
Chloe Lymer and Michael Churcher have been busy on the competition trail again.
Both Michael and Chloe competed in the South Coast Pre Cadet and Cadet Open.
This provided a tough challenge for Chloe, against some very aggressive competitors. Chloe scored a fantastic win against one of her Hampshire rivals, but, at the end of the pool, results were level between three of the four competitors.
Consequently, Chloe had to refight two of her three matches, to determine 2nd, 3rd and 4th place. This time Chloe delivered an even more emphatic victory (16 seconds) to secure a well deserved 3rd place.
Disappointingly Michael wasn’t given the same chance to shine, with a much smaller entry in his category than we were expecting. However, you can only fight who is put in front of you, and Michael returned with another silver medal to add to his growing collection.
Chloe then travelled to High Wycombe to compete in the NHC qualifier for the British Schools. An on fire Chloe swept her way to victory, defeating both an orange belt and a green belt (two whole belts higher!) on her way to a gold medal.
It may have been half term, but Court Lane players have been putting the miles in on the competition circuit.
Hampshire Open
Chloe Lymer and Michael Churcher both competed in this well attended event.
Chloe added another bronze to her collection, scoring from her favourite throw tai-otoshi and also winning a contest in ne-waza; an area of judo that Chloe has been working hard to improve, so a great result all round.
Chloe’s medal was presented by 9th Dan Dave Starbrook MBE OLY, who won Britain’s first Olympic Judo medals in 1972 and 1976. Starbrook had delivered a masterclass and coaching workshop to Hampshire players the day before.
Mike was also in action, contesting the senior weight groups. Mike gave a good account of himself in a category dominated by 1st kyu and Dan grade players, but was unable to progress to the medal stages on this occasion.
Welsh Pre-Cadet and Cadet Open
As part of his build up to the National Championships, Mike competed in yesterday’s Welsh Open. This was as a bench marking exercise to identify the level of competition and areas where Mike needs to improve prior to entering the Nationals.
