Judo kids bring home bronze

TOP STUFF: Nippon Judo Schools members in Macau, from left, Moira De Villiers, Justin Mitchell and Justine Bishop.

Relevant offers

A Torbay judo club has had an excellent couple of weeks on the mat.

Nippon Judo Schools head coach Johan Boshoff took three of the club's top athletes to compete in Macau and Taiwan, while back home coaches Nigel Bassett and Graeme and Debbie Downing were preparing the rest of the team for the North Island championships.

Moira De Villiers, 17, from Westlake Girls High, and Justine Bishop, 16, from Long Bay College represented New Zealand at the Pacific Rim Judo Championships in Macau last month.

Both got through to the medal rounds and won bronze medals in the event. Twelve countries took part in the event.

Justin Mitchell, 19, injured a leg in Macau, hindering his performance. He was unplaced.

But he turned his fortunes around a week later by getting a bronze medal in the Taipei International event in Taiwan, after winning two matches.

Other club members contested the North Island championships at AUT University over the first weekend of August.

The won 40 medals - 22 gold, 12 silver and eight bronze. Gisborne Judo Club followed them on the medals table with 25 medals.

"We have an extremely busy time ahead of us," says Boshoff.

"In September, we will take part in two small events in Howick and Hamilton, as well as the national secondary schools championships.

"Our club development squad will tour Tahiti during the same month, and four of our members are part of the New Zealand youth team to battle it out in a three-match international series in New Caledonia.

"This is all part of the preparation for the nationals in October in Christchurch."

- © Fairfax NZ News