Great Britain has enjoyed fantastic success at the 2015 World Veterans Judo Championships in Amsterdam from 21-24 September. 

Day one of the competition on Monday 21 September saw GB come away with an impressive five medals in total with the highlight definitely being Michele Agneli’s gold in the Men’s 75-80 years -81kg category. However arguably the most memorable moment of the day was Stan Cantrill’s bronze in the Men’s 75-80 years -73kg category when he said “One day I will be happy to take a pipe and slippers but not yet” in response to being asked about retiring from the sport.

There were further bronze medals that day for Terence Watt in the Men’s 65-70 years -90kg, Clive Richard Douglas in the Men’s 60-65 years -90kg and Andrew Thomson in the Men’s 55-60 years -66kg.

While there were no medals on day two for British competitors, there was a fifth for both Alan Mineards in the Men’s 30-34 years -100kg and Spiro Tomasevic in the Men’s 40-44 years +100kg while Colin Francis in the Men’s 30-34 years -66 kg took seventh.

Day three, Wednesday 23 September, Shaun Mitty took silver in the Men’s 45-49 years -90kg category with Daniel Murphy winning bronze in the Men’s 50-54 years +100kg. There was also a fifth place finish for Derek Hopkins (50-54, -100kg) and seventh place finishes for John Thacker (50-54, -90kg) and John Bayford (45-49 +100kg).

The fourth and final day on Thursday 24 September saw British judoka win an outstanding 10 medals including three golds from Daniel Harvey in the Men’s 35-29 years +100kg, Kirstin Gray in the Women’s 35-39 years -57kg and Sarah Hopkins 45-49 years in an amalgamated -/+78kg category. 

There were also silver medals for Joyce Malley in the Women’s 50-54 years -70 kg, Kay Andrews in the Women’s 60-65 years -78kg, Samantha Dobrowolski in the Women’s 30-34 years -63kg and Ronda Crampton Reid in the Women’s 35-39 years +78kg. 

Debra Small took bronze in the Women’s 40-44 years -52kg as did Dianne White in the Women’s 50-54 years -63kg and Sandra Hughes in the Women’s 35-39 years -78kg. Tracy Plane (F1 U78) was also presented with a medal.

Congratulations to all involved.

Full results can be found on the IJF website