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Competitors weigh each other up at today's Judo
Published: Friday, 05 August 2011
Judo competitors from around the world took to the mats today at the Ravenscraig Regional Sports Facility.
The crowd at judo threatened to bring the roof down on several occasions, so vocal was the support.
Steblyuk of Urzhgorod had to leave the contest injured in his match up with Chinese Taipei's Chen in the under 66kg bout as Taipei got revenge after the same two countries came together in Badzo's controversial victory over Yen in the under 60kg final.
Another controversial match up was in the last fight of the day when Reykjavik's Rumba was toppled by Slovenj Gradec's Varsnick in the under 81 kg final. The Reykjavik coaches were straight up to the judges when the decision was announced but Rumba took his defeat with a good grace that personified the ethos of the Games.
Andrew Malone, TL head coach, was over the moon with his squad's performance on the day. He said: "I'm delighted that we've ended the day with seven medals from the 10 in the squad. I asked them all to give 100% and that's exactly what they gave. It feels great to win the medals but I'm even happier with the performances. The medals won were all deserved and each of the athletes should be proud of their achievements and performances today."
Event sponsor Anne Clyde of UK Steel Enterprise presented bronze medals, Igor Topole of the ICG presented silver and local MSP Claire Adamson presented gold.
Anne said afterwards: "The judo event was fantastic to watch and a great follow on from last night's great opening ceremony. I've had great feedback about the opening ceremony and everyone who came along clearly had a great time.
"Today it was great to see so many competitors from so many different cities take to the mat. The competition was of a very high standard but it was also great to see all the athletes getting on so well. I've seen so many athletes exchanging gifts from their home countries and I'm sure plenty of friendships have been forged today."
The format of the event was a pools to knockout system. Each contest took three minutes, followed by a 'golden score' if required.
The competition is overseen by a technical committee led by tournament director Mark Mateer.
On Saturday a masterclass involving judo experts will put the young athletes through their paces and offer top tips.
You can tweet from the event - #icg2011 or join us on facebook.
Film from the Games will become available on YouTube and photographs on the ICG flickr pages in the course of the next few days - so keep checking!
The full results will be posted on the results pages.
