November 12th 2009 - 1st day of Competition

Posted 21:45

Carla's victorious Japanese opponent stormed all the way to the final leaving Carla in the 1st round repechage facing her counterpart from Scotland. Bright start but unable to score, Carla's opponent managed to score a Gyakusuki punch which saw her into the next round and eventual bronze. Unfortunately, this time Carla missed out.

Posted 17:15

Carla burkitt lost 1st round to japan on judges decision came back in repo lost to Scotland
Cheyne Phillips just lost the bronze medal to Belarus
Rio smith out first round against Spain extra time

Posted 16:55

Rio Smith – U21, +60kg. 35 in category, pool 2.

1st round bye for Rio which saw her face a Spanish opponent in round two. A really good feisty exchange sured between the two fighters and Rio nearly scored as her opponent just stepped out of the mat as Rio’s Jodan Mawashigeri kick landed.

The girls continued on with Rio starting to push but the 0-0 stalemate remained until extra time. Once again a good opening exchange in extra time with Rio coming close again to scoring from a Jodan Mawashigeri but unfortunately the Spaniard scored with a Gyak punch first with only 17 seconds left on the clock. Time just ran out for Rio as she chased the equaliser but she just couldn’t catch her opponent.

Carla Burkitt – U21, U53kg. 32 in category.

It was disappointment for the current European bronze medallist as Carla’s first round pitted her against Japan. The Japanese fighter was lightening quick and many of the 50/50 exchanges went the Japanese way. With less than 30 seconds on the clock Carla pulled back one point scoring with her own Gyakusuki punch before levelling the score at 4-4 in the dying seconds by scoring a great Jodan Mawashigeri kick.

Extra time ensued and with 30 seconds left the Japanese fighter once again took the lead scoring a Gyakusuki punch. But with 2 seconds left the Japanese fighter received a penalty warning for holding levelling the scores once again. The match went to the judges votes – 3-1 to the Japanese and disappointment for Carla.

Cheyne Phillips – U21, +78kg. 43 in category, pool 2.

Chyene’s 1st round opponent was from Latvia and seemed an even match as both fighters attacked and defended well unable to break the deadlock and taking the 0-0 fight into extra time. Cheyne was the first to break to deadlock scoring with a Gyakusuki punch to take a 1 point lead and doubled it shortly afterwards scoring once again to win the match 2-0.

2nd Round saw Cheyne against a tall opponent from Finland. A gyak under the Fin’s kick gives Cheyne the opening point with 1:30 left on the clock. Buoyed up Cheyene took the fight to his opponent a grabbed another point to eek out a lead. However, a point against Cheyne made for a close finish but he held on to win 2-1.

The 3rd round saw Cheyne face a Columbia opponent who came out firing with Cheyne on the backfoot. Cheyne defended his position slightly too harshly giving away two successive contacts warnings and a point to his opponent. However, Cheyne was soon awarded a point back as his opponent also gave away a penalty point. Within a few seconds Cheyne was 3-1 up a another 2 points winged its way to Cheyne for another infringement by his opponent, however Cheyne did drop a point near the end to see out a battling 3-2 victory.

The 4th round quarter-final pitted Cheyne against the large Moroccan local lad who seemed to have the reach and height to cause Cheyne a few problems but Cheyne used his speed well to dodge many of the attacks and launch some counter attacks before getting caught by a Mawashigeri kick. The flags were disputed between the judges but the referee gave the 2 points anyway to the Moroccan. That was enough to see him through to the next round at Cheyne’s expense after Cheyene put in a very spirited performance that could have taken him all the way, however, like Ross he bowed out in the quarter-finals but unlike Ross, his opponent did make the final putting Cheyne in bronze medal contention via repechage.

Cheyne’s next fight saw him pitted against a Danish fighter in the repechage semi-final. Good opening exchanges saw Cheyne take the lead scoring a solid Gyakusuki punch. Another 30 seconds later Cheyne doubled the lead with another Gyak. Ten seconds left and Cheyne dropped 1 point allowing his opponent to come back with his own Gyak but Cheyne held on to secure his place in the repechage final.

Tears of disappointment or shear frustration. The four minute final never reached the end as Cheyne limped off injured handing the match to his opponent after a scruffy grab around the neck takedown ended with Cheyene twisting his knee which severely hampered his ability to claw back the 3 point deficit. Cheyene’s opponent capitalised on his injury and tried more takedowns resulting in some minor warnings but managed to gain another 3 points as Cheyne couldn’t defend the last one. Cheyne then limped off as he injured his foot to cap off a frustrating repechage final. Hard luck Cheyne, a gallant effort and 5th best in the world.

Posted 15:05

Ross Mathieu - Male U21, U68kg. 59 in category, pool 1.

1st Round saw Ross against Ghavidel representing Quatar. Ross started the brighter of the two fighters pushing his opponent backwards as he chased the points. Ross took the opening point scoring with a Gyak punch to settle the nerves. Half way through the match the officials notices there had been a mix-up on the scoreboard with the names reversed and it took a couple of minutes for them to sort out with Ross leading 2-1 at that stage. At the restart Ross’s opponent levelled the score to 2-2 but Ross benefitted from a penalty point awarded against his opponent before scoring a final Gyak punch to win the match 4-2.

The 2nd round saw Ross come out sharp a firing once again, however, his domination of the fight didn’t produce any points as the match ended 0-0 and went into 1 minute of extra time. Once again Ross dominated and the pressure eventually paid off as he scored a winning Gyak to secure a 1-0 win.

The 3rd round has Ross pitted against his Mexican counterpart with both fighters entering into a really cagey opening with nobody risking getting caught. Ross was the first to break the deadlock but soon dropped a point as the match proceeded into 1 minute of extra time with the 1-1 scores remaining. Extra time saw the Mexican try a few takedowns on Ross, really close but none scored leaving the door open for Ross to grab the win by scoring a Chudan Mawashigeri kick and a Gyak to seal a 3-0 win.

Ross now in the 4th round quarter-final came up against a tricky Algerian opponent who just seemed to have the reach over Ross and try as he might he was beaten to the punch. Ross eventually bowed out 5-0. Unfortunately for Ross, his Algerian opponent lost in the semi-final round ending Ross’s repechage hope. So close, but yet so far.

Gareth Hains – U21, U78kg. 56 in category, pool 1.

Gareth secured a 1st round bye to face a Slovakian opponent for his first fight. An edgy opening from both fighters neither taking many chances.

Gareth tried a Jodan Mawashigeri kick but was rewarded with a point against him as he opponent scored under the kick. With 15 seconds left on the clock Gareth was caught by another Gyak as he pressed for the equaliser but did manage to pull one bacj before the end but time was against him and the buzzer went as Gareth lost 2-1. His opponent failed to make the final leaving Gareth no entry into repechage for a chance of the bronze medal.

Reisha Hull - U21, U60kg. 36 in category, pool 1.

Reisha was in total control of her opening match eking out a steady 5-0 lead after scoring a succession of Gyakusuki punches. However, her win was made a little uncomfortable towards the end as she walked into a Jodan kick to drop 3 points but she held out to see her into the next round.

Reisha’s 2nd round opponent from China ended Reisha’s dreams as she scored the only point of the fight to beat Reisha 1-0. Reisha fought more defensively and came close to scoring on a number of occasions but it was her opponent who snatched the point with a Gyak that settled the match. The Chinese girl subsequently lost ending Reisha’s route into repechage and potential bronze medal.

An early start to the morning for the team as the first day of competition finaly descends on the Squad. A 6:30am breakfast followed by the 7:30 coach to the competition venue meant that England were one of the first teams to arrive. The Squad had their pick of seats in the near deserted stadium taking up a central location for the best views. Slowly the stadium is beginning to fill with various nations adorned in their national tracksuits.

There has been a few low key chants, cheers and claps with the Senegal team singing an African song. England let rip with their adopted "England Aroo, Aroo, Aroo" chant to blow the dust off the stadium seats. Gareth, Ross and Cheyne have now gone down to weigh-in before the competition starts.

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