South Island Judo Championships

Nelson | Monday, 25 August 2008 – From Stuff.co.nz.
Bodies were flying and slamming on the mat at the 2008 House of Travel South Island Judo Championships in Motueka over the weekend.
About 130 judokas from throughout the country took part in the two-day event, hosted by the Central Districts Judo Association at the Motueka Recreation Centre. The competition is usually held in Christchurch, and was last held in Motueka 10 years ago.
Carl Beech from the Motueka Valley, who won silver in his weight class and bronze in the senior men's open competition, said he was really happy to have the event in Motueka, as it enabled local judokas to see a high standard of competition.
Christchurch's Jason Koster, who won the open competition, said he was using the event as a warm-up for the Asian circuit in November, which attracts the top fighters in the world.
He said it was important to support local tournaments - he could still remember the impression senior fighters had made on him as a junior.
The president of the New Zealand Judo Federation, Harry O'Rourke, said it was a very well organised tournament and although numbers were down a little in the senior divisions, the standard of competition was very high.
Both mats were in constant use on Saturday, with bouts running from 9am to 6.30pm.
The only respite came when a fuse blew, leaving the electronic scoring system down for 20 minutes.
The event also attracted national coach Brent Cooper, who was “talent-spotting,” and referee Dave Brown, who had come straight from judging an Olympic final in Beijing.
There will be another report on the championships in Tuesday's Nelson Mail sports section.