UCC Judo Team Clean Up At Intervarsities

This weekend UCC Judo competed in the 2016 Intervarsites Competition held in the Foyle Arena in Derry.

There were 10 Universities taking part, with over 140 competitors in total. UCC Judo travelled the furthest and brought up 15 competitors. We came away with 28 medals in total and 3 prestigious awards.

UCC Ladies entered two female teams, the only university to enter two teams and I'm delighted to say that we took home the gold and the bronze in the women's events. UCC Ladies A Team, captained by Katie O'Donovan, took home the Gold with a decisive 2-1 victory over the host team University Ulster. Our Ladies B Team, captained by Rosemine Acbang, were also successful in securing the bronze. We were then awarded the trophy for Best Ladies Team of 2016, UCC Ladies haven't won this since 2003.

UCC Men entered two male teams this year and were also the only university to enter two male teams. UCC Mens A team, captained by Tim Kelly, secured the gold in a stunning 4-1 defeat of last years winners NUIG. UCC Mens B team, captained by Richard Collins, came up against a well-seasoned University Ulster home team in their first fight and were knocked out. We were then awarded the trophy for Best Mens Team of 2016, UCC mens haven't won this since 2008.

This is the first time that UCC have secured the double gold in both the ladies teams and the mens team finals.

As well as this success our 15 competitors also came away with an impressive 28 medals from the competition, the most of any other university. We came home with 13 Gold medals, 4 Silver Medals and 11 Bronze Medals, with outstanding performances from all of our Judoka.

Andre Bilro Pereira de Araujo was also awarded the "Best Judoka; Charlie Hegarty Shield". This is an award decided by the referees on the day and is given to the one person who has outstanding Judo and totally embodies the spirit of Judo.

The biggest thanks has got to go to our coach David Holmes, as without him none of this would have been possible. Many thanks to Lisa Bradley the tournament director and all in University Ulster for an extremely professional and well run event.

It has been my honour and privilege to captain such an amazing, supportive, talented group of people this year, and I can only imagine what the future holds for UCC Judo.

Katie O'Donovan

Club Captain

Katie O'Donovan; Gold Team Event, Bronze 63kg

Cara Nies; Gold Team Event, Bronze Upper Kyu

Aobh O'Shea; Gold Team Event, Gold 57kg

Rosemine Acbang; Bronze Team Event, Bronze 57kg

Erin Brightoo; Bronze Team Event, Silver Lower Kyu, Bronze 70kg

Ciara Gildea; Bronze Team Event, Bronze 52kg

Tim Kelly; Gold Team Event, Bronze Open Weight

Andre Bilro; Gold Team Event, Gold 90kg

Luke Hickey; Gold Team Event, Gold Middle Kyu, Silver 73kg

Brian Dowling; Gold Team Event, Silver 80kg

Matty Adams; Gold Team Event, Bronze Middle Kyu

Richard Collins; Bronze Middle Kyu

Shane O'Connell; Bronze Under 90kg Novice

Dylan Barrett; Bronze Over 90kg Novice

Alex Kingston; Gold Over 90kg Novice, Silver Over 100kg

Throw Yourself into Something New with UCC Judo!

Facebook: facebook.com/UCCJudo

Twitter:     twitter.com/UCCJudo

Website:   judo.ucc.ie