MORE than 500 of Australia’s top judo players of all ages will take to the mat in Wollongong this weekend when the Australian Kodokan Judo Titles come to the Snakepit at Gwyneville.
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The NSW KJA and local Judo-1 Wollongong club, the championships will begin with the kata events on Friday with the official opening ceremony on Saturday morning ahead of the junior categories, with the seniors and masters to take place on Sunday.
Judo-1 Wollongong coach and world class judoka Mick Cutjar said NSW had earned the right to host the event which was held in Adelaide last year.
“The club’s been trying to bring the event to Wollongong for 15 years so it’s great to have it here,” Cutajar said.
“The Judo Oceania held there event last year at the [Wollongong] Entertainment Centre so there’s no reason why we can’t hold other events here. Our NSW team won 23 medals, 13 gold, from a team of 19 at last year’s event in Adelaide so I think we’ve earned the right to have it here in Wollongong.”
Some of the best high-level players will use the event as a tune-up for the 20th Osaka International in Japan in a month’s time, ensuring the action will be high quality.
“There’s a team of 30, including seven from our gym, that are competing in this event that’ll be traveling to Japan for the Osaka International four weeks later. That’s a massive event held every two years.”
The championships begin with Kata events from 5pm Friday with junior events from 8am Saturday. and opens and Masters from 8am Sunday.