INTERATIONAL UPDATE

Georgia (Tbilisi) Grand Slam, 24-26 Mar 23 (Nathan Katz) – With one strong win against Hadad (LBN) by Ippon with a spinning Tai-Otoshi, Nathan was then up against World Ranked #24 Kyrgyzbaev (KAZ) in the Round of 32. Nathan did well here, however the referee seemed generous with penalties which did not allow the match to run its course. Both athletes were given Shidos early after which Nathan was given another one for defensive posture which was quite unwarranted. Nathan was competitive in the match putting in some strong Seoi-Nage attacks. Past halfway he dropped in for an attack and KAZ pushed forward. The referee believed Nathan’s arm brushing against KAZ’s leg impeded the progress and Nathan was given another (harsh) Shido ending the match. Despite this Nathan showed good intensity and commitment and the gap for a few wins at this level is now very small.

Antalya (Turkey) Grand Slam, 31 Mar – 2 Apr 23 (Nathan Katz) – had a good win against Berliner (USA) and in the Round of 16 had a great fight against World Ranked #13 Flicker (ISR) going into Golden Score (GS) a Shido ahead. 2 mins into GS Nathan looked like he was going to attack but Flicker got in first with a Sode for Waza-Ari. So close to a Quarter Final match and although disappointed this time, Nathan will inevitably break through to the next round and beyond soon. After the competition he had a great training camp in Turkey followed by another solid training camp in Hungary before coming home. He is participating in the National Training Camp in Melbourne (24 – 29 Apr 23) before heading off to the World Championships (Doha, Qatar) scheduled 7 – 13 May. Limited to only the World ranked (WRL) top 100 in each division, at WRL #45, we wish Nathan all the best in this event. He is the only male in the Australian Team for this event.

Max won his first two matches in Bremen, the first against a Dutch athlete by Koshi-Jime (strangle) and had a solid third match which he unfortunately lost by Tani-Otoshi and which put him out of the competition. Bianca was very competitive in her match against Netherlands putting in some good attacks. Well into the match and trying to pressure her opponent, she pushed forward once too much getting caught with a drop technique putting her out of the competition.

Teplice (Czech Republic) Cadet European Cup (8-9 Apr 23) - Max competed against Orlandea (GER) in U/60s which had 83 competitors and Bianca competed against Sutovic (MNE) in U/57s with 65 participants. These Cadet events in Europe are huge and our guys were introduced to competitions where the first-round draw was a Round of 128 positions. Unfortunately, both lost their first matches, both learning valuable lessons and both picking up on areas needed for improvement. They also had fantastic experiences at the international camps in which they participated and which probably provided greater developmental value than the actual competitions, providing opportunities to train with many European Cadets who compete regularly on the international European circuit. Well done to our youngest international athletes and wishing you both all the best in your future international careers.

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