Doryoku Judo Academy shines at championships
Judoka brought home quite a few medals
Fourteen elite judokas from the Doryoku Judo Academy represented Central Gauteng at the recent South African Open Judo Championships in Port Elizabeth.
This event hosted judokas from all over the African continent, and is one of the highlights on the judo calendar, with the judokas showcasing their skills in the kata, individual and team kumite (fighting) categories.
The following results were achieved:
• Rudi Rademeyer and Jacques Rossouw won a gold and silver medal respectively in the Masters Kumite category. Rudi, who participated in the Masters Open Tournament, had to withdraw due to an injury, resulting in a third place.
• Tégan Malherbe and Andrew Hewett narrowly missed out on a gold medal in the kata category, and had to settle for silver, while Janu Malherbe and Herman Austin exceeded all expectations to win a bronze medal. Ivan Olivier and Ruben Cordier also won a bronze medal for kata.
• Klara Vahrmeijer, Janu Malherbe, Nico Nel and CJ Schutte each won a gold medal for kumite in their respective age and weight categories.
• Tégan Malherbe showed a lot of determination and performed well in the elimination phases, resulting in a silver medal.
• JP van Staden showed great courage to beat his opponent in the finals, proving that the underdog should never be underestimated.
Judokas participating in the team events showed their dominance in this event once again, with the following judokas being part of a winning team and receiving a gold medal:
• Klara Vahrmeijer, Janu Malherbe, Nico Nel, Nathan Hamman, Herman Austin, Ruben Cordier, CJ Schutte, Tégan Malherbe and Tazmin Rossouw.
“I am extremely satisfied with the results achieved by the elite judokas at this year’s SA Open and have high expectations of those who are participating in the upcoming SA School’s event in September,” said Sensei Danie Bruwer.
He added that three of the judokas who participated deserved a special mention and said, “Klara attended the SA Open for the first time, and even though she lost a fight in the elimination rounds, she went on to beat the same opponent in the finals. Janu attended his third SA Open tournament and was ecstatic to win his first SA Open, after being runner-up in the first two. Nico won his second SA Open in two years. I am very excited about the prospects of these three judokas.”
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