October has been a jam-packed month for Midsomer Norton Judo Club, with various judoka competing in a World Cup, the British Masters Championships, the Welsh Open and the Samurai High Grades Open.
First off, Matthew Hucker competed at the highest level in his Judo career so far, fighting in Glasgow at the European Open, which was Matthew’s first World Cup event.
After a crowd-funding appeal, Matthew was only able to enter the event through the generosity of friends and family, Chedder, Westlands, Shepton and Midsomer Norton Judo Clubs. Frustratingly, Matthew went out in the first round of the event, despite going the full distance against Javier Gallego, from Spain, who went on to win three fights.
Matthew said: “The experience was invaluable. The weight cutting and training leading up to the event, plus dealing with expectations of a televised event, are all elements I can take forward with me to my next events. That’s judo!”
Next up for the club was the British Masters Championships, where club coach, Lee Adams, entered the under-90kgs M5 category. Lee won two fights on the bounce, only to lose in the final to take silver. A great achievement after fighting above his normal weight category of under 81kgs, where he is the former two-time British Masters Champion.
The Welsh Open followed the British Masters, where Matthew Hucker was looking to build on his national ranking. Matthew, who was fighting in the under-81kgs category, had a pool of 27 of Britain’s best to contend with, and after losing his first fight in golden score, Matthew went on to win five on the bounce with four ippons to take bronze. A superb comeback and display of character, with all four of his children looking on. Matthew is now ranked number one in England and number two in Great Britain.
The last competition of the month saw Joe Dallard, James Hucker, Richard Hucker and Matthew Hucker all fighting in the Samurai High Grades Open. Three wins with only one loss saw Joe Dallard take bronze in the open weight first Dan category, and two wins by ippon with two losses saw James also take bronze in the under-73kgs.
Three wins and two losses helped Richard take bronze in the under-90kgs category, and finally, five straight wins saw Matthew Hucker take gold, also in the under-90kgs category. All in all, a very successful day in the dojo for Joe Dallard and the Hucker brothers.
Midsomer Norton Judo Club is building a pedigree for competitive national and international judo players and are on the hunt for the next wave of athletes, running classes for five-year-olds to seniors. Anyone in the area looking to get their child into a sport to have fun or to have a bright future competitively is very lucky to have former British champions, number-one ranked judokas and experienced coaches locally, waiting to teach and nurture grass roots.
Midsomer Norton Judo Club welcomes people of all ages and abilities. For anyone interested in taking up judo or for more information on the club, please contact the club via Facebook or call Colin Taylor on: 01761 419703.