Last weekend 7 Pinewood fighters attended the two day National Championships for Pre Cadets and Cadets at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield. This competition represents the pinnacle of their domestic competition schedule where the stakes and standard are high.
Saturday saw cadets Declan Whyte at U42, Will Von Mallinkrodt & Charlie Howell at U73 in action. Declan opened the Pinewood account with a solid performance that took him to the final. After a tough and close battle he was forced to accept a Silver. Will started the day as he continued it with a huge Ippon (10 point throw) in his first fight. Displaying his usual style he dismissed each successive opponent in turn to reach the final which he won in less than a minute scoring Ippon which is the equivalent of a knockout in boxing. This performance secured the club’s unbroken record of a British Champion every year since 1969. Charlie who entered this event to gain experience of high level competition fought well gaining invaluable experience.
On Sunday pre cadet Wade Muttit was forced to compete up a weight group at U34 giving him a tough task. He took to this with great focus and sharp performances that saw him to a nail biting final. His concentration and determination was excellent and at the end of the contest time with both fighters level he entered the golden score extra time which was decided in his favour by a penalty awarded against his opponent. This was even more impressive as it was his 3rd consecutive British title.
Kiera Bateman at U48 was all business sweeping through her opponents with guts and determination. In the final one small mistake was punished by her capable opponent leaving her with a Silver medal.
Holly Eccles also competing at U48 had a good day but was ultimately disappointed losing in a fight for Bronze.
Olivia Spellman continued her steady improvements and her training paid off as she put in a great day fighting her way to the final at U63,
which she won emphatically with a sharp arm lock in the final to be crowned British Champion.
With 7 entries over 2 days and 5 finalists that resulted in 3 British Champions it was a long, hard but satisfying