Pacific medals a Joy for judo duo
by John Hill
Monday, 6 August, 2007
by John Hill
Monday, 6 August, 2007
PATTI Grogan returned from Macau minus the bronze medal she won at the Pacific Rim championship after her luggage went missing somewhere between Hong Kong, Seoul and Sydney.
"It was disappointing. It wasn’t just the medal but all my judo gear and my clothes were missing but fortunately they turned up on Friday," said the 18-year-old Gisborne Girls’ High School student, who was third in the under-57 kilogram young women’s division.
Grogan’s Gisborne clubmate Joy Williams made it a double success with silver in the under-63kg division of the senior champs.
"It’s a fantastic result," said club coach Jason King. "Joy’s silver in the senior competition is the highest we’ve won and to win not one but two medals is awesome.
The last person from the club to medal at the champs was Esther Reedy in 1993. She won two bronze and before that Richard Kent won bronze in the early 1980s.
"The whole club’s stoked for Joy and Patti," said King.
Grogan arrived home earlier this week while Williams stayed on to compete in the Taipei Open.
"It was a great experience," said Grogan, who, prior to the champs, spent a week in Taipei training with a high school club.
"The temperature reached a record high while we were there, 38.7 degrees, with the average around the 33 to 35 degrees mark.
"We (her and three other New Zealand judoka) started training the day after we arrived and the place had no air conditioning, just fans to keep you cool.
"It was unbearable. The first day we were only able to do four three-minute randori, like practice fights not contests, and had to stop for about 15 minutes.
"We did that four times but by the end of the week we were up to seven or eight randori and on my last day they changed the girl I was up against. "I later found out she was the Taiwan champion at my weight.
"They (the Taipei judoka) were much stronger than us but they concentrated on standing techniques whereas with Jason we’re more 50-50, standing and ground, which I think is better. We just need to get stronger."
Following the stopover in Taipei, it was on to Macau for the Pacific Rim champs and welcome air-conditioning.
"By then we had become pretty acclimatised anyway but it was good to fight in an air-conditioned dojo."
After beating a girl from Macau, Grogan was drawn against a South Korean, who went on to win the title.
"She was good, strong and had good technique. All the Korean fighters were very strong and had great technique but I was disappointed in the way the fight ended,
"She threw me and was trying to roll me over and hold me down but I still had one shoulder off the mat. At first the judges called yuko then changed it to wazari so I was waiting to get up and start again.
"Then I heard my coach telling me to get up off the mat and then the judges declared her the winner.
"She would have won anyway, she was too good, but I would have liked to have fought longer. It’s a lesson I’ve learnt the hard way."
Grogan said the champs were a continuing step-up for her in the international arena.
I’ve fought at junior international level, fought in Australia, at the Oceania Judo Union champs and now the Pacific Rim champs.
" I won a bronze in my weight division and a silver in the open at the last OJU champs. Next year they’re in Christchurch and I want to win gold."
FONTE: Gisborne Herald - Gisborne, New Zealand
"It was disappointing. It wasn’t just the medal but all my judo gear and my clothes were missing but fortunately they turned up on Friday," said the 18-year-old Gisborne Girls’ High School student, who was third in the under-57 kilogram young women’s division.
Grogan’s Gisborne clubmate Joy Williams made it a double success with silver in the under-63kg division of the senior champs.
"It’s a fantastic result," said club coach Jason King. "Joy’s silver in the senior competition is the highest we’ve won and to win not one but two medals is awesome.
The last person from the club to medal at the champs was Esther Reedy in 1993. She won two bronze and before that Richard Kent won bronze in the early 1980s.
"The whole club’s stoked for Joy and Patti," said King.
Grogan arrived home earlier this week while Williams stayed on to compete in the Taipei Open.
"It was a great experience," said Grogan, who, prior to the champs, spent a week in Taipei training with a high school club.
"The temperature reached a record high while we were there, 38.7 degrees, with the average around the 33 to 35 degrees mark.
"We (her and three other New Zealand judoka) started training the day after we arrived and the place had no air conditioning, just fans to keep you cool.
"It was unbearable. The first day we were only able to do four three-minute randori, like practice fights not contests, and had to stop for about 15 minutes.
"We did that four times but by the end of the week we were up to seven or eight randori and on my last day they changed the girl I was up against. "I later found out she was the Taiwan champion at my weight.
"They (the Taipei judoka) were much stronger than us but they concentrated on standing techniques whereas with Jason we’re more 50-50, standing and ground, which I think is better. We just need to get stronger."
Following the stopover in Taipei, it was on to Macau for the Pacific Rim champs and welcome air-conditioning.
"By then we had become pretty acclimatised anyway but it was good to fight in an air-conditioned dojo."
After beating a girl from Macau, Grogan was drawn against a South Korean, who went on to win the title.
"She was good, strong and had good technique. All the Korean fighters were very strong and had great technique but I was disappointed in the way the fight ended,
"She threw me and was trying to roll me over and hold me down but I still had one shoulder off the mat. At first the judges called yuko then changed it to wazari so I was waiting to get up and start again.
"Then I heard my coach telling me to get up off the mat and then the judges declared her the winner.
"She would have won anyway, she was too good, but I would have liked to have fought longer. It’s a lesson I’ve learnt the hard way."
Grogan said the champs were a continuing step-up for her in the international arena.
I’ve fought at junior international level, fought in Australia, at the Oceania Judo Union champs and now the Pacific Rim champs.
" I won a bronze in my weight division and a silver in the open at the last OJU champs. Next year they’re in Christchurch and I want to win gold."
FONTE: Gisborne Herald - Gisborne, New Zealand
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