BUCS 2022

After a break of a few years it was great to be taking players to BUCS again, with a small but enthusiastic group of 3 players this year.

After an uneventful drive to Walsall and everyone weighed in without problems, and we all headed off for the familiar Premier Inn stay. Saturday morning saw mats packed with players warming up, the schedule already posted and everything got going more or less on time.

U63 Dan Grade

Niamh was in action in the Dan grade category at U63 kg. Things got going well in the first contest with an early waza-ari score upgraded to ippon.

The next contest was the semi final and presented a tougher challenge. Prolonged exchanges of attacks left both players tired and bruised but eventually Niamh was caught in a san-gaku strangle and was forced to submit.

After a quick visit to the medics for some “maintenance”, she was back in action in the bronze medal match. Taking a waza-ari by countering a forward attack, her opponent was unfortunately forced to withdraw with a shoulder injury leaving Niamh with a well earned bronze medal in her first BUCS.

U81 Kyu Grade

Rob was competing in the U81 kyu grade category, with a few familiar faces from the recent Warwick competition in the mix. Facing a player he had beaten at Warwick in the first round, this time the result went the other way and he found himself into the early stage of the repechage. In his repechage contest, despite some strong attacking, a momentary lack of focus let his opponent from Nottingham catch him with an ippon throw. But despite the disappointment of not making it to the medal stage, lots of lessons learned to benefit future competitions.

U66 Kyu Grade

Alex was the last of our players in action and after a strong performance in Warwick we were hoping for more success in the expanded field of players at BUCS. Seeded into the second round, Alex was in energy saving mode and won his first contest with a hold in just 34 seconds and his second with a trademark seoi-nage in just 7 seconds.

We expected the final to be a cagier affair as Alex’s opponent was favouring a left handed grip but despite taking a little longer to secure the win, 2 waza-ari throws let Alex take home the gold medal.

A successful trip to the Midlands, and hopefully we can take a bigger team along next time to be able to take on the team competition as well.