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Swansea’s young judo star
Jade Lewis captured a silver medal in her first Cadets European
Cup event in Portugal on Saturday 15th May.
The 15-year-old, who’s
a member of the Welsh High Performance Squad, was the only player
competing from Britain, in preparation for the European Cadet
Championships in Teplice in June.
The latest leg of the European
Judo Union’s Cadet Tour 2010 saw 170 competitors from 11 countries
take to the mat in the Portuguese city of Coimbra.
In her first match the
youngster from Gendros Judo Club overcome Porgual’s Rodrigues
by ippon. The Welsh judoka battled her way to golden score victories
in the quarter-final against Diaz Vidal and semi-final over Siero
to secure a place in the final.
Jade lost out to Croatian Sikic, 6 th in the European Judo Union
rankings, but gave a good account of herself as she captured Wales’
first medal at the event. The standout junior was accompanied
by Welsh Judo Association coach Suzanne Jones and training partner
Demi Brooks.
Wales’ new national team
coach Craig Ewers, who retired from competition to take the post
last week, said: “I’ve been aware of Jade for quite some time
as she’s been training with us for the past 2 years.
“She comes from the successful Gendros
junior club in Swansea which is run by Mark O'Conner a former
teammate of mine on the Welsh and GB team. This has given her
a great base and she still trains there a minimum two sessions
a week.
“At present in addition to monthly squad trainings Jade attends
judo classes at the National Dojo in Cardiff on a Tuesday and does
a full day with us on a Wednesday. She has access to
strength training and video analysis in the morning and then the Cadet
technique and randori sessions in the evening.”
The former Welsh National
Championship winner believes Jade’s latest and most significant
medal of her blossoming career is down to her work ethic and envisages
a bright future for the talented teenager.
“Jade's biggest attribute is her willingness to learn, she works
hard and I firmly believe that this is the first of many
results to come for Jade at international level,” added the
29-year-old.
Gendros Judo Club train
at Gendros Community Centre, Swansea, SA5 8DP. Training is held
on Monday and Friday at 18:45 – 20:15.
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