Willesden pair are Hungary for glory
31 May 2006
Youcef Amouri (left) and Georgina Davies
Youcef Amouri (left) and Georgina Davies
By Ben Kosky
YOUCEF
Amouri and Georgina Davies will fly the flag for Willesden Judo Club when they travel to Hungary to do battle with the top teenagers in Europe next month.The Willesden duo have both been selected in the Great Britain squad for the European under-17 (cadet) Championships - and will now be aiming to add their names to the club's lengthy roll of honour.Fifteen Willesden fighters have represented their country at the annual tournament since 2002, with two - Nicole Walters in 2002 and JR Badrick in 2005 - returning home with gold medals.The selection of Amouri, 16, and 15-year-old Georgina was welcomed by their coach - and, in Georgina's case, proud father - Leigh Davies, who will be travelling to the Hungarian town of Miskolc to support them.He said: "It'll be a first for me, being a parent as well as a coach. I was confident at least one of them would get through, so I took a gamble and booked my flight with EasyJet about three months ago!"The venue's quite a way from Budapest, but holding the tournament in a smaller town does mean you get more of an atmosphere."If you held a tournament like that in London it'd be lost. This way there are posters everywhere and it's an opportunity for the whole town to get involved."Georgina's place in the under-63kg slot was more or less assured when she claimed the gold medal at the International Dutch Youth Cup in late April.Although Davies was disappointed that a third Willesden youngster, Jermaine McIntosh, missed out on the GB squad after finishing fifth at Maasshuis, he is confident that the two successful youngsters will acquit themselves well."Jermaine didn't have a very good Dutch Cup and that was one of the tournaments they based their selection on," Davies observed."Youcef is 16, so this is his last crack at the under-17 championships and I think he could win a medal. He did well in the German International Tournament in Berlin, losing to a fighter I think will win the gold medal."Georgina has it all to do again next year, so this is almost a trial run - see how she gets on and then try to improve on it next time."If you can pull a medal off in these under-17 championships, you should, in theory, be in line to win a medal at the under-20s in three years' time."And by the time the Olympics in 2012 comes around you'd be about 21 or 22. That's the perfect age for a judo fighter and the Olympics are the long-term goal."The pair linked up with the rest of the GB squad for a four-day training camp in Poland last week and will compete in France and the Netherlands prior to the European Championships.Meanwhile, three other Willesden fighters - Badrick, Ashley McKenzie and Jerome Robinson-Reid - will head to Cuba for training with the GB under-20 squad later this month.For more information about the club, or judo in general, contact Leigh Davies on 0771 500 2080.
Fonte: KILBURN TIMES - GRÃ BRETANHA - http://www.kilburntimes.co.uk/
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