The USA Judo Senior National Championships were held this year in San Diego,California, hosting nearly 300 competitors from across the country. This event was the final event to determine the selection of athletes to the Olympic Team Trials to be held on June 5^th in San Jose, California.  The East Bay Judo Institute of El Cerrito, California sent a total of six representatives: Junya Anami, Takenari Asanuma, Sayaka Matsumoto, Stephanie Hata, Molly O�Rourke, and Thomas Henry to compete in this event. Together they succeeded in bringing home five medals, four gold, and one silver for their efforts.

Thomas Henry, a graduating senior at UC Berkeley, opened day one of competition for the East Bay Judo team in the men�s under 81 kilo division. Henry started his first match against Gene Eydelman of Illinois. Henry, fighting a nagging hand injury, was overpowered by Eydelman, getting thrown for a full point. Eydelman then lost to eventual champ Aaron Cohen, eliminating Henry from competition. Henry earned valuable experience from his first senior national championships, and turned in a respectable performance for his efforts.

 Next up for EBJI was Molly O�Rourke, a junior at San Francisco State, competing in the women�s under 78 kilo division. O�Rourke looked dominant in her preliminary matches, slamming Rhonda Morrell-Pruitt with an impressive major outside reap. She continued on her path to the finals, in her second match, against rival, 2002 Junior World team member Nina Cutro-Kelly of New York. O�Rourke opened the match strong, decisively throwing Cutro-Kelly with an outside reap for a half point, and then followed with a pin for the full point, sending her into the finals against Lisa Uemura of Salinas, California. O�Rourke had overcome Uemura numerous times in the past year. This time, however, Uemura was able to capitalize on a tactical mistake by O�Rourke, catching her with a major outside reap for the win. For her efforts, O�Rourke earned a respectable silver medal, and secured her slot as the #1 seed at the upcoming Olympic Team Trials.

Junya Anami and Takenari Asanuma took EBJI�s first gold medals in the kata (forms) competition of the event. Together, they performed the fifteen techniques of katame-no-kata, a variety of pinning, choking, arm locks and leg locks. Their masterful display of these techniques earned them first place out of ten other teams, in their first senior national competition, beating out many seasoned competitors for the gold.    

Sayaka Matsumoto, a student at UC Berkeley, opened the second day of competition in the women�s under 52 kilogram division. She opened her day solidly, throwing Hana Carmichael of Florida with uchimata for a full point. Matsumoto continued to look dominant in her next match, throwing Anna Palmer of Sacramento, California for a full point sending her into the semifinals against eventual bronze medallist Jessie Hagerty of Colorado. Matsumoto easily pinned Hagerty with a triangle hold for a full point; however, during the match she suffered a minor shoulder injury. Despite her injury, Matsumoto still opted to compete in the final match against Gina Franzese of Scotia, New York. Matsumoto opened the match with a bang, immediately throwing Franzese with an outside reap for a half point, then following with a pin for a partial point. Matsumoto looked unthreatened for the duration of the match, throwing Franzese for another partial point, then held on for the win, warding off Franzese�s ineffective attacks. For her efforts, Matsumoto earned her 1^st national gold medal in the under 52 kilogram division, adding to her four previous titles in the under 48 kilogram division, bringing her national title tally to an impressive total of five consecutive titles. Matsumoto was also awarded the Best Technique Award of the tournament.

Stephanie Hata, a sophomore at UC Davis, wrapped up competition for EBJI by taking a gold medal in the under 48 kilogram division. Hata opened her day pinning newcomer Francesca Durand of Florida, pitting her against fourth ranked rival Crystal Brown of the Olympic Training Center in the semifinal match. Brown opened that match strong, giving Hata two penalties for passivity. But Hata came back strong, giving Brown three penalties, using the full duration of the match, and holding on for the win. Hata�s semifinal win set her up in the final match against teenager Christina Pro of Pennsylvania. Hata looked confident, opening the match with a penalty against Pro for defensiveness, then throwing her for a partial point to come away with the national title.

The East Bay Judo Institute is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the teaching of Kodokan Judo. It's head instructor is Dr. David Matsumoto, 6th degree black belt. For information about classes, schedules, location, and contact information, see www.ebji.org or call 510-237-0607.

Back to home     |     What's new?
DR. DAVID MATSUMOTO