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On the weekend of February
20th, Sheffield University hosted its thirteenth annual University
of Sheffield International Students Judo Tournament.
The event is the largest
student judo tournament in the country, which had over 200 competitors
making up 27 teams from across the UK and even further afield.
Each team consisted of six competitors, two women (-57kg and +57kg)
and four men (-73kg, -81kg, -90kg and +90kg).
The USIST welcomes judoka
in higher education of all standards to compete in their ample
venue.
The day was filled with
superb judo. And the contest between the reigning champions Muenster
A and the London A teams in the last stage of the knockouts was
a highlight.
After six gruelling fights
the teams were at a draw, so it went down to a tiebreak situation.
A weight group was randomly chosen and the two fighters had to
go through another round to secure their teams place in the semi-finals.
In this case it fell to the -57kg women’s category as the decider.
The winning throw from this fight earned London A’s -57kg player
the ‘Throw of the Day’ trophy.
Other memorable fights
of the day were between Muenster A and Muenster B and Sheffield
A and Sheffield B. No team who trains together enjoys fighting
each other but unfortunately this year this was how the draw worked
out.
Muenster has won the tournament
for the last three years, and the fights between their A and B
teams were highly skilled. Both teams once again showed their
prowess on the mat, however the A team eventually came out on
top.
The fight between the two
Sheffield teams was as impressive and emotional for many of the
players involved, as nobody wants to be responsible for knocking
their own teammates out of the competition.
The overall winners of
the tournament were London A, who were an amalgamation of various
London Universities, who defeated Warwick A in the final. Sheffield
A and Aberystwyth were placed third and fourth.
Following the event, a
planned social was held at Sheffield Union for all the teams.
It was sad to see old and
new friends leave on the Sunday but Sheffield can’t wait to welcome
everyone back next February for the 14th annual USIST competition!
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