British Judo’s Paralympic Potential Team Shine at the VI Junior German Open

The British Judo Para Potential Team impressed at the VI Junior German Open in Heidelberg, with a phenomenal clean sweep of four athletes and four medals, in a weekend full of top-class judo.

The standout performance of the day came from Hadley Beard (Hackney Judo Club / All Saints School), who claimed gold in his first-ever international VI competition. His technical ability and composure on the mat were outstanding, and his victory over teammate Rico Amideku in a thrilling contest capped off a brilliant debut. Huge credit goes to Hadley’s club and coaches for their work preparing him for this level, this feels like the start of something special!

Jake Pasquill (Bacup Judo Club) continued his impressive run of form, following up his Para European Youth Games gold with another dominant display. Across three tough fights, Jake delivered some fantastic judo, opening with his trademark drop Seoi-nage for Waza-ari before a well-timed sasae for the win. In his final contest, he produced the throw of the day: a massive Seoi/Harai combination that earned him the title. Jake is fast becoming a serial winner on the VI judo scene.

Jolene Donaghue (Ray Stevens Academy) fought brilliantly to secure silver. After defeating a strong French opponent with a clever uki-waza variation, she followed up with a huge ippon Tani-otoshi against her German rival. Donaghue narrowly missed out on gold against a talented Luxembourg fighter, but her performances were full of quality.

Rico Amideku (Micklefield Judo Club) also claimed silver, narrowly missing out on gold to teammate Hadley Beard. Rico started strong, taking his opening contest with a beautifully timed sasae for ippon, before bouncing back from defeat to Hadley with a sharp koshi-jime finish against a tough French opponent.

This Para Potential Team continues to impress, not only through their results but also through their attitude and teamwork. With four medals from four fighters, and several more athletes of this calibre back home, the future of British Para Judo looks bright.

British Judo’s Paralympic Head Coach, Ian Johns, said, “I am so proud of the team, this Para Potential squad is really something special. There are four fighters here, but there are a number of others back home who are at this level too.

“The Para Potential team train so hard, and our joint Para days with the Adaptive team have really helped to push these fighters on.

“Massive well done to the clubs and coaches – they represented you all so well.”

Watch out for further news from British Judo by checking out our latest news section. You can also catch up via our official social media platforms, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The post British Judo’s Paralympic Potential Team Shine at the VI Junior German Open appeared first on British Judo Association.