Gold and silver for Gisborne judoka

JUDO MEDALLISTS: Where better to practise for your next big contest than at the beach on a sunny day. Yes, we posed this picture but the day seemed too good to waste. Thomas Mackenzie (right) shows his throwing technique while Andrew Wall prepares to take a fall. Both members of Gisborne Judo Club, they came home from the Sydney International Open with medals — silver for Mackenzie and gold for Wall. Picture by Liam Clayton

Gisborne judoka Andrew Wall and Tom Mackenzie won gold and silver at the Sydney International Open this month.

The Gisborne Judo Club members — both cadet blue belts — were among a strong New Zealand contingent competing alongside judoka from other Oceania countries.

Wall, 16, won all three of his bouts to win gold in the cadet men’s under-73-kilogram division.

Mackenzie, 15, won his first two bouts by ippon — the maximum score — to reach the final of the cadet men’s u81kg division against Wellington judoka Alex Rivett.

Rivett won the final but Gisborne Judo Club women’s coach Kiki Velloza, who travelled with the boys, said Mackenzie had been close on Rivett’s heels this year and the match results were getting closer.

Mackenzie also entered the junior men’s u81kg division but did not reach the knockout rounds.

“This is Tom’s first year as a cadet, and he is challenging himself by entering the bigger comps and bigger divisions,” Velloza said.

Both boys had competed at Auckland International Open tournaments, and Mackenzie took part in the Queensland International Open. These contests gave the boys the taste of international competition.

The standard of judo in Sydney was high.

“The Sydney International Open is now quite the attraction for the Oceania countries, and it also warmed up athletes heading off to Europe for the International Judo Federation World Junior Championships in Abu Dhabi in October,” Velloza said.

In Wall’s bouts, opponents did not know how to take his quiet approach to his fights, she said.

“Andrew is hard to read as a judo fighter. He has a poker face and his opponents are still wondering who he was and where he came from.

“Due to a minor head injury, Andrew withdrew from the junior men’s division for safety reasons.”

Velloza said the boys visited two judo clubs for pre-competition training . . . a great experience.

They laid judo mats for their first session with the Kugatsu Judo Club — a first for the boys — and also visited the University of New South Wales Judo Club run by Sensei Warren Rosser.

Rosser was an Australian Olympian and a former judo coach of Velloza.

“He has always welcomed us to his club, and he has produced Olympic judo players over the years,” she said.

“The boys will take a few days’ rest before jumping back on to the mat to prepare for the New Zealand National Judo Championships to be held over the weekend of October 17 and 18.”