Judo title to S.I. man

Press, 7 June 1982, Page 24

Judo title to S.I. man

The New Zealand senior men’s open title went to a South Island competitor for the first time in 14 years when the national judo championships ended in Christchurch yesterday. Canterbury’s Graeme Spinks came out on top from an entry of 26, finishing off Wayne Watson (North Wellington) in thrilling fashion in the final with a hip throw followed almost immediately by a foot throw. Earlier in the open bouts .Spinks had recorded the up'set of the tournament by eliminating the third dan black belt, Dave Clark (Auckland). Clark had won the title the previous four years in succession and Was chosen to represent New Zealand at the 1980 Moscow

Olympics. The 21-year-old Spinks admitted to being "very surprised” about his win over Clark, vastly more experienced and two weight divisions higher. “He’s an aggressive player and is very dominating. I was able to take advantage of a sudden attack he made at the end.”

Spinks picked up two titles at the championships, also beating Watson in a very closely contested final of the under 78kg class. He was the first South Islander to win the premier trophy since another . Canterbury man, Frank Best, in 1968. Thanks to the Canterbury Area instructors the standard of judo had improved considerably in the region lately,

said Spinks. He was personally grateful for the efforts of John Banfield and Graham Coulsen, instructors at his own Canterbury Amateur Judo Club.

Another expected . result was the success of Canterbury’s John Moody, making his first appearance in the senior men’s competition. Moody had a hard-fought victory over Derek Maggs (Waikato-Bay of Plenty) in the final of his under-71kg weight division, and he took the under-71kg title in the young men’s class as well. Moody also won the Shodan Cup for the first dan black belt beating the most other black belts during the competition. Auckland’s Donna Guy was the deserved winner of the

senior women's open title, thus marking a full recovery from a bad run of injuries. She was also the winner last year. A highlight of the women’s competition was the feat of the Dunedin girl, Janet Poole, weighing 63kg, who managed to throw a 103 kg Blenheim competitor, Rose Foley, in the open. One competitor watched closely was the former Canterbury junior, Judith Bruce, who gained her black' belt while living in Singapore. Miss Bruce, now competing for a Wellington club, won the young women’s open title.

North beat the South in the annual inter-island event that followed the individual fighting.