East Ocean athletes win eight medals

MEDAL WINNERS: Members of East Ocean Jiu Jitsu returned from the Oceania Open Jiu Jitsu Championship in Auckland with eight medals. They are (from left): Willow and Summer Stone, Te Roha Fairlie, Hayze Middleton-Bennett and Bevan Brooking. Picture supplied

JIU JITSU

FIVE members of East Ocean Jiu Jitsu returned from the Oceania Open Jiu Jitsu Championship in Auckland with eight medals.

This event, held on February 21 and 22, was the first international jiu jitsu competition held in New Zealand under this particular rule set. It was also the first international jiu jitsu competition in which the five Gisborne athletes had competed.

On the first day, Bevan Brooking and Te Roha Fairlie competed in the no-gi event (wearing shorts and rashguard rather than the cotton gi).

Brooking won the silver medal in the black belt under-74.2-kilogram division.

Fairlie also won silver, in the white belt u80.2kg division.

On the second day, athletes competed in the gi divisions (wearing the cotton gi).

Brooking won bronze in the black belt men's u76kg division. Then in the absolute division — where athletes of all weights and ages compete against each other — he won silver.

Hayze Middleton-Bennett, competing in the blue belt men's u94kg division, defeated two opponents to win the gold medal.

Fairlie, competing in the white belt men's u82kg division, won a bronze medal.

Summer Stone, 14, and her sister Willow, 13, both won silver medals in their weight class in the youth division.