The National Team Championships is one of the highlights of the British Judo event calendar and this year’s competition on Saturday 1 July at Medway Park, Gillingham will be no different with some exciting contests in store.
With teams from eight of the BJA areas as well as Judo Scotland and the UK Armed Forces entered, spectators will get their fill of exciting judo throughout the day.
In the Girl’s Pre-Cadet competition, the Southern Area will be looking to back-up their win from last year with a strong showing on home soil though NHC will be sure to push them close after missing out in 2016.
In the Boy’s Pre-Cadet competition, London will be back to defend their title having beaten Scotland in the final last year. Their passionate supporters will be sure to bring the noise in what will be an ippon heavy tournament.
The Girl’s Cadet competition could well come down the wire with a number of teams boasting British champions and international medallists. The Southern Area will have the likes of Cadet and Junior European Cup medallist Molly Harvey to call upon at -52kg while NHC have 2016 Cadet European Championship bronze medallist Chloe Nunn fighting at -70kg.
The Boy’s Cadet Competition is no different with the Southern Area team looking to defend their title. Jacob Aldrige (-66kg) and Connor Leonard (-81kg) will be worth keeping an eye on in that team. The Midlands team is looking strong as well with Joshua Giles at -55kg in their ranks as are the NHC team with Michael Fryer at -60kg.
There are six teams entered into the Senior Women’s competition and it is too close to call. Each team has a real chance of medalling though the NHC and Midlands teams are arguably the favourites. Midlands will be looking to retain their title from 2016 despite missing a number of judoka from that team while NHC have a young but exciting set of players.
In the Senior Men’s competition two of Team GB’s Rio Olympians, Ashley McKenzie (-66kg) and Colin Oates (-81kg) will take to the mat for London and the Eastern Area respectively. London have a very strong team with Aaron Turner (-73kg) and Rhys Thompson (+90kg) also selected and they look well placed to challenge Scotland for the title. Scotland however won’t give up their title without a fight and have selected a strong team with a mix of Junior and Senior judoka with good reserves for each weight as well.
