The 2022 Commonwealth Games start this Thursday!
The Judo competition will run from 1-3 August. There will be extensive coverage via the BBC and iPlayer, as exclusive host broadcaster. The first session – knock out and repechage in the men and women lightweights – starts at 10am on Monday 1st, with the medal fights being held later in the day.
The home nations of England, Scotland and Wales will do well, possibly a medal for Northern Ireland. Australia and Canada are also sending some big names. You can never rule out a surprise result from India or one of the African countries either!
Did you know that Court Lane Judo Club has links to the Commonwealth Games?
Brett Caswell was training partner for Team England’s Sophie Cox in the run up to the 2002 Manchester Games.
The 1×1 metre mats that we use every session came from the same edition of the Games – they were used in the warm up area.
Outside of the Commonwealth Games, there is also a Judo Commonwealth tournament, which now features Junior and Veteran divisions. Court Lane’s Brett Caswell won the inaugural Junior Commonwealth tournament in 2006.
Competition success wasn’t immediate for the club, although players were competing from day 1 – Simon Brown was a regular early competitor.
Club coach Tony Brown has been appointed with Holbrooke’s Paul Vella to jointly manage the Hampshire junior squad. The decision was announced at the recent Hampshire AGM.
