Gemma Gibbons wins British Championships gold on return
Olympic silver medallist Gemma Gibbons won British Championships senior gold for the first time on her return to action at EIS Sheffield on Sunday.
With anticipation high for the return of British Judo’s first Olympic medallist in 12 years, Gibbons produced a professional display to win all five of her contests in emphatic fashion.
The Metro Judo Club star, who now trains at JudoScotland’s Performance Centre in Ratho, defeated Samurai’s Laura Dangerfield in just eight seconds as she dominated the category.
Gibbons said: “I didn’t feel at my best today, it was my first competition back so I wasn’t at my sharpest.
“It’s good to be back and today was my first senior British Championships win which was very pleasing and was good preparation for returning to the international circuit.”
One of the stories of the day unfolded in the -66kg category as Jidel’s Chris Waddell who emerged to take gold ahead of London 2012 Olympian and 2011 European bronze medallist Colin Oates.
Waddell, 20, threw Kumo’s Colin Oates for ippon in the second minute of the contest and continued his rich vein of form in round two as he sealed a surprise gold by defeating Lewis Keeble of RAF/Tamar.
Waddell said: “My target coming in was to take a medal so I’m delighted win gold.
“It was nerve-wracking going up against Colin but this can be the springboard for me now and 2013 can be my year.”
Paralympic silver medallist Sam Ingram, who has aspirations to compete at Glasgow 2014, faced the country’s leading fully sighted judoka in the -90kg category.
The highly-popular reigning Visually Impaired European champion was a man on a mission as he aimed to fulfil a career-long ambition of winning a medal at the British Championships.
Ingram’s fighting spirit was on show as he tenaciously pressed forward against fully sighted judoka to defeat Conor Muphy, Daniel Roberts, Frazer Chamberlain and David Groom to fire himself into the second and final round.
Sam Ingram and Matthew Purssey of JudoScotland/Budokwai set a new chapter in their respective careers and friendship as the pair gripped up.
A waza-ari from Purssey, who was there every stop of the way with Sam in Beijing when he won Paralympic bronze, was enough to for victory.
Ingram bounced back to defeat Michael Horley to claim a richly-deserved bronze medal while Matthew Purssey captured his seventh British title at a fourth different weight.
Sam Ingram said: “I’ve realised one of my career ambitions in winning a British Championships medal, it was a good experience for me and I enjoyed being back competing.“
Purssey echoed the humble words of his teammate and said: “I’m pleased with the win, I’ve done a lot of work with Darcel Yandzi in the build-up and was tapering after the Kendal Winter Camp.
“A lot of stuff I’ve been working on come off for me and it was a lot of fun to go up against Sam and I thought it was a good match.
“For him to come away with bronze today is a fantastic achievement and it’s a testament to him, Judo Scotland and the British Judo Visually Impaired programme.”
One of the most intriguing categories of the day was the talent-laden -57kg field where two-time Olympian and 2011 European bronze medallist Sophie Cox was challenged all the way by some fast-rising and established judoka.
Junior Player of the Year and 2013 Junior champion Nekoda Davis of Ealing Judo Club was a firm favourite with the crowd and underlined her credentials as she edged Sophie Cox by hantei (flags) after a pulsating contest.
Bacup’s Cox bounced back to take the title with victories over eventual silver medallist Connie Ramsey and Nicola Haywood who took bronze alongside Nekoda Davis.
Four-time European medallist Cox said: “I came here today because I wanted to test myself and I certainly got that.
“Every fight was a good test, I was happy with how I fought and while my performances keep up I’ll keep competing and I’m targeting the big competitions this year.” Full results: http://www.judotechnologies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/British-Championships-for-Seniors-2013-Results.pdf
