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South of England Sombo championships Sittingbourne Warriors sent a 10-strong team to the South of England Sombo wrestling championships in Bournemouth and returned with a huge haul of medals. The team drawn from all over North and East Kent dominated the adult and youth male weight categories, winning three golds and two silvers in the Youths (16-18yrs), two golds, three silvers, three bronzes in the Men’s and a gold and two silvers in the Masters (over 35 years ). They faced fighters from Hampshire, Norfolk, Oxfordshire and an international contingent from France and Poland. Dave Hatch (45), Sittingbourne, who won silver in the Masters and a bronze in the adult males, received a special award for best fighting spirit of the competition. An unkind draw meant that Hatch had to fight three times in quick succession for his bronze medal. Despite exhaustion, sheer willpower saw him win through each time. The Diamond twins, Danny and David (17), pupils at Queen Elizabeth’s in Faversham, also did well, with David winning gold in the lightweight youths and silver in the men’s. Danny claimed silver in the youths u74k , losing the final to a strong and skilful French competitor. But he found the move up to the men’s in what was probably the strongest pool of the day a step too far. Kieran Daniels (17) of Folkestone by contrast thrived in both youths and Men’s, winning gold in both u74k categories Kieran’s repertoire of skilful throws saw him also awarded prizes for the best adult male in the competition and the best throw of the competition. Kieran did particularly well in claiming the scalp of club colleague Ashley Costa (23), the favourite in the u74k men’s. Ashley, 11-0 up, with seconds to go countered an attempted throw by Kieran. Both landed on the floor face down with Kieran spinning on his head to the side of Ashley and applied an armlock. Game over. It was as , Ashley said later, a “bad day at the office”. Ashley fought again and won to claim the bronze despite suffering mild concussion from the close of the previous bout. Not wise, but a tribute to his doggedness. The three Carrots, father Colin and sons Danny and Lee had a very mixed day. Colin (43) who had already won a silver in the Masters committed the cardinal sin of extending his arm to the floor to prevent a throw in the Mens. The shock of his weight combined with that of his heavyweight opponent resulting in a broken and dislocated elbow. Danny (17) who had already comfortably won the u82k youths and had won through to the men’s final, gaining an automatic silver, conceded the fight to accompany his father to hospital. Colin is in plaster for six weeks but realistically will be out of competition for several months. Lee (20) was the winner of the men’s u90k, beating club colleague Drew Cullen (42) 1-0 in a closely fought contest. Drew also won the gold in the Masters. Sombo is a form of jacket wrestling invented in Russia. Sometimes known as Russian judo, the discipline has some significant differences from its better-known Japanese counterpart. Leglocks, but no strangles, are allowed for example. Grappling techniques are much stronger and rules and scoring much easier for spectators to follow than is the case with judo. Sittingbourne Warriors meet at Martin Clarke’s dojo in East Street Sports Centre Sittingbourne. Tuesday 8.30pm further info CombatSombo@blueyonder.co.uk |
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