KIDDERMINSTER'S Samurai Judo Club and Droitwich’s Kazoku-Kan Judo Club both took players to Holland to compete in the special needs World Games in Beverwijk, just outside Amsterdam.
This is the largest SN competition in the world with 600 competitors including players from most European countries and strong squads from Brazil and the United States of America
Samurai’s Olivia Turner dominated the event, winning gold in both the Senior International Open on Saturday and the Senior Open on Sunday, with a total of six wins out of six contests.
This was the fourth year that Olivia, who is also the British Open SN Champion, has attended the event and the fourth year that she has won gold. A former pupil of Dyson Perrins School, Olivia now attends Kidderminster College.
Kazoku-Kan fielded two players, Felicity Warburton from Blessed Edwards Catholic School and Liam Jones from Rigby Hall School in Bromsgrove.
Liam and Felicity were fighting on Sunday and were in a pool of five players each, they both secured silver medals.
There was also a kata competition on the Saturday. Kata is the formal demonstration side of judo, where pairs are marked on the skill, timing and positioning of their moves as opposed to contest.
Olivia was in action again, this year partnering Rob Alloway, another Samurai member and also head coach of Kazoku-Kan. They finished fourth out of 10 pairs in the the Nage-No-Kata, which is the kata of throws, missing out on third place by 4 points.
In the Katame-no-Kata, which is the kata of groundwork, a series of holds and other moves which need to be executed as perfectly as possible, they secured a bronze.
Samurai head coach, Andrew Haffner, said: “It is always wonderful to come here and watch players with all sorts of disabilities, physical and intellectual, some of them quite severe, taking part in judo.
"I am in awe of the determination of these players to participate and the incredible patience shown by their coaches and partners. It is very humbling.”
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