The last two weeks have seen a glut of medals for the University of Leeds Judo Club. With competitions in Sheffield and Goole, Leeds have proved to be a dominant force on the Yorkshire Judo circuit; with eight of the team managing to bring home 3 bronzes, 6 silvers, and 6 golds between them.
Highlights included Spencer Brittain, who only started Judo a year ago, showing up the competition and bagging gold in Sheffield. Perhaps the most inspirational performance came from Martin Woodhams who won silver in the weight category above his own despite spending the early hours of the same day at Fruity. James Storrow also competed in both his own weight category and the one above, securing gold in both – beating Scunthorpe’s former strongest man along the way. Gareth York demonstrated admirable stamina, taking his last fight of the day right to the wire, exhausting the audience and taking home silver for his efforts. Similarly, Raphael Philippdes had to endure some frustrating refereeing decisions and gamesmanship in order to grind out his silver medal finish.
Matthew Lenny, who’s gone five years without competing in a judo event, won 100% of his fights in his pursuit of gold in front of a fairly hostile crowd at the Christmas Championships in Goole. The Club’s president, foolishly competing with a fractured elbow, managed to endure an additional tie-break round to wrestle silver from his opponent.
Finally, Anna Hulme, who earned enough points for her 1st Dan assessment the day before competing, fought valiantly against a 2nd Dan – ranked 8th in the country – doing enough to bag herself a silver medal.
Gianluca Guerriero
Featured Image: Leeds University Judo