Olympics hopeful Andrews ‘doing all the right things’

Gisborne judoka Sydnee Andrews roars to victory over Portugal’s Rochele Nunes in a women’s over-78 kilograms Round 1 fight at the Hungary Masters in Budapest. Andrews was beaten in Round 2 by the reigning world champion. Picture by Tamara Kuylumbegashvili/IJF

The Olympic Games fire burning in Gisborne judoka Sydnee Andrews has become a blaze after her latest international success.

Andrews competed at the prestigious Hungary Masters in Budapest over the weekend.

She won her women’s over-78 kilograms Round 1 bout against world No.14 Rochele Nunes (Portugal) but came up against world champion Romaine Dicko of France in Round 2 and was outgunned.

It is understood Andrews is the first-ever Kiwi to win at the masters, which features most of the world’s top judo players.

The points Andrews collected not only lifted her world ranking  four places to No.28, it also moved her into 27th on the Olympic Games qualification points standings.

While there is a long way to go for hopefuls, should she maintain or improve that, Andrews would automatically qualify for the Paris Olympics.

Gisborne Judo Club head coach Jason King said “Syd” was doing “all the right things” and going “from strength to strength”.

King watched both fights on the International Judo Federation website.

Her win over Nunes was an upset and had the commentators talking animatedly about “Andrews of New Zealand”.

King said Andrews fought Brazilian-born 2020 Olympian Nunes at the Tel Aviv Grand Prix earlier in the year and was well beaten.

Not this time. The 20-year-old Andrews scored a waza-ari (throw) at the one-minute mark then pinned Nunes for 10 seconds to complete an ippon and victory.

Dicko, who won individual bronze and mixed team gold at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, was a class above the young Kiwi and won quickly.

She went on to win an all-France final and reclaim the world No.1 ranking.

King said it was unfortunate for Andrews to meet such a powerful opponent in Round 2.  Had the draw gone differently for her, she might have been able to get to the quarterfinals, which featured a repechage and the chance to pick up even more points.

But he could not have been prouder of the performance she put in.

“She looked strong from the start (against Nunes) . . . you could see she was dominant.”

Andrews is back in action at the Zagreb Grand Prix in Croatia next week.

King said she was ranked seventh for the contest and with a good draw, he believed she could medal and continue her international progression.

King has kept in regular contact with the GJC star judoka and told her the other day “just to keep doing what you are doing . . . and you’ll clip that ticket to Paris”.

She remains an inspiration to fellow GJC members — a number of whom will be in action at the North Island International Championships in Rotorua this weekend.