BUCS 2010 Huge Success for Oxford Judo

Oxford Judo has had a very successful trip to BUCS 2010. Following our success in the Varsity match, our competitors pulled out exceptional performances to make this one of the club’s most successful student championships.

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In the individuals’ event, headline performances came from Becky Bayliss and Ifor Capel, who took gold in the U57kg and U90kg Dan categories respectively, making them national student champions! Alex Jones also managed to take silver amongst the lightweights in the U60kg Dan category, after being beaten to the gold in the final. Vitek Sipal fought incredibly well in the U73kg Dan category, arguably the toughest of the day with 28 competitors, and eventually took bronze after beating some very talented opponents. Karen Kruska and Amy Ellis-Thompson also put in excellent performances, and took bronze medals in the U63kg and U70kg Dan categories. Finally, Teddy Chadd and Bradley Joyce took bronze medals in the U66kg and U100kg Kyu categories.

With an exceptionally good day behind us on the Saturday, we went into Sunday’s team competition aiming for the top. Our men’s team of Hugh Leonard, Andrew Stewart, Justin Gregory, Ifor Capel and Bradley Joyce drew Bath University in the pools, but managed to beat the other teams (Bristol and Nottingham) convincingly, putting us through to the knockout. After a further win against Warwick in the quarter-finals, we faced an unusually strong Plymouth team (they came close to beating Bath in the final) and narrowly lost out on a silver medal. Following another win against Glasgow in the repĂȘchage, the team went home with well-deserved bronze medals.

The women’s team of Becky Bayliss, Karen Kruska and Amy Ellis-Thompson also drew Bath in their pool, and narrowly lost 2-1 in their first match. Fortunately, they went on to beat both Cambridge and Imperial College 3-0, putting them through to the semi-final. Another 3-0 win against Glasgow set them up for a rematch with Bath in the final. Bath proved to be too strong this year, but nevertheless the Oxford women outdid the men by taking home team silver medals!

Huge congratulations to everyone that participated this weekend, and many thanks to our coaches (Chris, Carol and Tony) and spectators for their support. These results come at the end of one of an extremely successful competitive year, and reflect the dedication of all of our coaches and competitors. Let’s just make sure we hang on to these titles next time round!

Medal Table

Gold

  • Becky Bayliss (U57 Dan)
  • Ifor Capel (U90 Dan)

Silver

  • Women’s Team
  • Alex Jones (U60 Dan)

Bronze

  • Men’s Team
  • Vitek Sipal (U73 Dan)
  • Karen Kruska (U63 Dan)
  • Amy Ellis-Thompson (U70 Dan)
  • Teddy Chadd (U66 Kyu)
  • Bradley Joyce (U100 Kyu)

By admin

The Web and IT Officer maintains the oxfordjudo.com website, and administers email, mailing lists, and other IT aspects of the Oxford Judo Club.