This year was the 27th. Dutch Open SAMBO
Championships held in the newly refurbished and impressive Trefkoele sports
hall, in Dalfsen, Holland. With over 18 countries, from as far afield as India,
Sri Lanka, Canada, America and Russia attending, this event is fast becoming a
must for Samboists who wish to compete against top class foreign opposition,
with minimum financial outlay. With five sharing a car and the expenses, the
one night trip from Folkestone cost £85.00 each.
We left Folkestone at 5pm Friday, catching the six o’clock
Eurotunnel train. Heightened security checks took a while to get through, but
we boarded on time, with only one minor calamity. The electric windows in my
ageing Seal Alhambra are not working, so, after having to keep getting out of
the car at various check points, I decided to force the window down. Wrong
move! Instead of creating enough opening for the Border Force inspectors to see
into the car, the whole glass window disappeared into the door panel. On to the
train, and as soon as it got moving, out came the tool box, off came the door
panel and the window was retrieved and re-instated.
Landing in Calais at 7.45pm, local time, the four
competitors from Spitfire, Danny Carrott, Nathan Johnson, Francesca Aspey and
Izzie Namey, settled back for the 270 mile trip to Dalfsen. One advantage of
travelling at this time, was that traffic was light. Four hours later, with one
short comfort break, we were in the Mooirivier (nice river) hotel carpark.
Although reception was closed, the night ported could not have been more
helpful, showing us to our rooms and making us welcome. He must have been
prepped, as he said he was more than happy to serve us a night cap in the
lounge, and if we needed him, to just ring 9, from any phone.
I would certainly recommend this hotel to any-one who wants
to stay in this tranquil are of Holland.16 year old Izzie was the first
competitor to weigh in on Saturday, the day of the competition, at 09.45
Fighting in the under 57kg category, her hardest fight was against a Dutch girl
in the semi-final. Trailing by four points to nil, she pulled a four point
throw out of the bag to level the scores with seconds to go. The whistle
sounded, indicating the end of the contest, and Izzie had won by the rationalisation
that her four point throw was technically superior to her opponent’s two one
point and one two point techniques. So, into the final against the Belgian. No
problems here, an emphatic 6 -0 victory for the gold medal.
Next up came one of Spitfire’s coaches, 17 year old
Francesca Aspey, who found the going difficult against heavier opponents. In
her first fight, she lost on an arm lock to a local Dutch girl and although she
lost 6 – 0 to the French opponent in her second fight, she did save her best efforts
to last and finished the contest strongly.
Last to weigh-in were the men, Danny Carrott, over 90kg and
Nathan Johnson, under 90kg, from Spitfire who were joined by the only other
British representative, Billy-Joe Wilshire from Fightworx, Somerset in the
under 74kg. Billy flew into Amsterdam, then caught the train to Dalfsen. Billy fought in a pool of nine, narrowly
missing out on a bronze medal. He lost his first fight to the eventual gold
medallist from Canada, 11 – 0 which placed him in the reparcharge. A leg lock
victory over his Sri Lankan opponent saw him progress, but he was stopped in
the next round by a 9 – 1 loss to a Dutch rival. Billy travels to competitions
whenever he can and his technique and confidence is really improving.
Nathan Johnson, a first kyu in judo, fought in the biggest
pool of 17 players. A leg lock victory over a Dutch player in the first round
meant he would meet the eventual gold medallist in round two. Nathan found him
too strong and struggled to an 8 – 0 loss. Now fighting for bronze, Nathan
progressed with a very good 14 – 4 victory over a Frenchman, before losing on a
leg lock to the Dutchman who he beat in the first round. Overall, 5th.
Place in a pool of seventeen, a very good result.
Last and by no means least, was our most experienced player,
Danny. Competing in the slightly heavier weight group of over 90kg, his first
fight against a younger Dutch man was his hardest. Losing 1 – 0 with ten
seconds to go, he emulated Izzie’s earlier victory with a last gasp two point
throw. With four seconds to go, his opponent was so devastated that he could
not continue. The semi-final was much easier and an 11 – 0 victory over a
German saw Danny into the final. The 9 – 0 final result against another German
adversary does not tell the whole story. While technically superior standing,
the German clearly wanted to go to the ground, where twice Danny was almost
caught on arm locks, but either escaped or held off.
Well done to the whole British team, a great experience, a
superb day of competition, some extremely good contests and a very proud coach!
Finally, we left Dalfsen at 5pm for the return journey home.
One stop latter and we were in Calais by 10pm, catching an earlier than planned
train at 10.20 and back in doors by 10.15, British time.
Colin
Carrott
English
Sombo Federation President.
