Games spot within Chanel's grasp after Oceania win

Tauranga Judo champ Chanel Kavanagh is this week waiting to find out if she has been selected to represent New Zealand at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.Photo/George Novak

Tauranga Judo champ Chanel Kavanagh is on the cusp of claiming a spot at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

The 19-year-old, who weighs less than 48kg and stands under five-feet tall, is this week waiting for a phone call from the New Zealand Olympics Committee to find out if she will be heading to the Games in Glasgow later this year.

The former Mount Maunganui College student claimed a gold medal in the junior women's U48kg division at the recent Oceania Judo Union Championship in Auckland where she dominated her two Australian competitors, forcing one of them to tap out to escape her choke-hold.

She also came second in the Senior Women's Under 48kg weight division, putting her among the top Judo fighters in the world.

Her dad, Kevin, a 4th dan black belt and head coach at the Tauranga Judo Club, introduced her to the sport when she was 7 years old.

After winning her first medal at the 2007 National Judo Champs, she said she had not looked back and had her eyes firmly on this year's Commonwealth Games.

"Competing in the Games would be amazing and I really feel like I am ready," she said.

"After I won my first medal I started upping my training and things got serious. I entered more and more competitions to be the best I could. At the moment I am studying early childhood through Waikato University but I still train two hours a day, six days a week.

"It's like having a part-time job but it is all worth it. Judo has built up my confidence and I have met so many great friends all around New Zealand." Chanel gained her 1st dan black belt in September last year and said she planned to go as far as she could.

"Getting the black belt was really tough," she said.

"I had to do a kata, demonstrate a series of throws in front of a panel of judges. They judge your technique, the quality of your throws. it was tough but it felt good to get it."

Her dad, Keith, told the Bay of Plenty Times winning a gold medal at the Oceania Judo Champs was a "huge deal" but he knew his daughter could do it. And he was confident she would be selected for the Commonwealth Games.

"That Oceania win was a big deal, a huge deal," he said.

"It was the first gold for Tauranga and that feels good but I knew she had it."

"Here's hoping she gets the call to go to the Commonwealth Games next."