Rendezvous Championships- East Bay Takes Gold, Silver and Fifth
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Rendezvous Championships- East Bay Takes
Gold, Silver and Fifth
The
2003 Rendez Vous Canada Judo Championships were held on October 18 and 19 in
Montreal, Canada. Representing the
East Bay Judo Institute in El Cerrito, CA were Stephanie Hata, Molly O�Rourke,
and Sayaka Matsumoto. The 2-day event featured many world-class athletes and over
200 competitors.
First
up for the East Bay Judo Institute was current Senior National Bronze medallist,
Molly O�Rourke, in the 78+kg weight category.
Her first match was against Patricia Vandermeer from Canada.
Vandermeer took an early lead, pinning O�Rourke for yuko (half point).
O�Rourke had to come from behind and forced Vandermeer to get 2
stalling penalties, tying the match. In
the 3rd minute, O�Rourke became much more aggressive and was able
to throw Vandermeer for ippon (full point) with ouchigari (inner thigh reap).
Her second match was against Loretta Edwards, the 2003 World Team Member.
O�Rourke had beaten Edwards twice at the Fall Classic and this
tournament was no different. She
took control of the match and threw Edwards for ippon with ouchigari, sending
her into the semi-final with Marylise Levesque of Canada.
The semi-final match was not even a minute old when Levesque came in for
a weak attack, which O�Rourke countered for a beautiful ippon sending her into
her first Rendez Vous final. In the
final she faced Amy Cotton, the 2003 World Team Member for Canada.
O�Rourke was overpowered and was caught in a pin for ippon, giving her
the silver medal. This placement
skyrocketed O�Rourke from number 6 on the USA Judo roster to number 2,
guaranteeing her a place at the Olympic Trials next year.
Next
up for the East Bay Judo Institute was Stephanie Hata competing in the under
48kg weight class. Hata first faced
Bianca Ochkedal, who took a bronze medal at the US Open the previous weekend. Hata was in control the whole match and threw Ochkedal for
yuko with kouchigari (inner thigh reap). She
was able to hold onto this lead and the win, sending her into the semi-final
with Bridget Thibault of Canada. At
the beginning of the match, Hata looked over-powered and was given 2 penalties
of passivity and defensive posture. Hata
became more aggresive and threw Thibault for yuko with kouchigari, tying the
match. Thibault then did an attack,
and the referees gave her a yuko, which put Thibault back in the lead. Thibault
was able to barely able to hang onto this lead, sending Hata into the bronze
medal match where she faced the US Open Champ, Isabel Latulippe from Canada.
The bronze medal final was about even until the 3 minute mark when
Latulippe attacked ouchigari which Hata tried to counter, but was unsuccessful.
Latulippe threw her for ippon, giving Hata a solid 5th place
finish.
Sayaka
Matsumoto also represented the East Bay Judo Institute in the 48kg category. In
the first round she faced Isabel Latulippe from Canada, whom Matsumoto had lost
to the weekend before. Here,
Matsumoto forced Latulippe to get 3 penalties then choked her for ippon (full
point) in the 3rd minute. In
the semi-final, Matsumoto faced Nicki Schultheis from the United States.
Matsumoto threw her for ippon in the second exchange, putting her in the
final with Bridget Thibault of Canada. At
the Rendezvous in 2002, Matsumoto had lost to Thibault, but this year was a
totally different story. In the
first minute, Matsumoto threw Thibault with osotogari (outer leg reap), which
the referee called ippon (full point) but then changed it to wazari.
In the 3rd minute, Matsumoto had a dominating grip and threw
Thibault for ippon with uchimata (inner leg sweep) for ippon, giving her the
gold medal and her first Rendezvous title.
Matsumoto now turns her attention to the Fukuoka Women�s Tournament in
Japan.
The East Bay Judo Institute is run by David Matsumoto, the director of development for the United States Judo Federation. East Bay Judo Institute is a non-profit organization dedicated to the teachings of Kodokan Judo. EBJI is located at 11165 San Pablo Avenue in El Cerrito, CA. For more information please call (510) 237-0607 or visit us on the web at www.ebji.org.