INTERATIONAL UPDATE
2023 Perth Senior Oceania Open (Grand Prix Olympic Qualifying points) and the Perth Cadet and Junior Oceania Cups – 10th – 12th November
- Perth Oceania Open
- Josh Katz 60kg – 5th place In the Round of 16 (R16), Josh beat Terao (USA) who had already beaten Standke (GER) in R32. In the Quarter-Final (QF), Josh beat Aversa (ITA) by Waza-Ari with a fast drop Tai-Otoshi. In the Semi-Final, Josh was up against #1 seed Yang (TPE) who is World #4 and whilst a great match in Golden Score, lost by Waza-ari. The Bronze match against Lopes (POR) was also long, but Josh was on top of the pace going into Golden score. Josh’s Waza-Ari score was waved off and we expected a third Shido to go to Lopes but the match continued. Josh dropped under for Seoi but Lopes defended and secured a strangle. Although very disappointed Josh still had a great day and banked a valuable 250 Olympic Qualifying points for his 5th place. Fighting for Bronze in a Grand Prix is a great effort. This leaves Josh with an end of year world ranking of 27 and currently on target for Paris 2024.
- Perth Oceania Cadet Cup – 1 Silver, 2 Bronze, 1 x 5th
All of our guys fought in new weight divisions at this event, so their performances are very encouraging.
- Max Zollinger 66kg – Silver. Strong wins against 2 New Zealanders and an Australian, Max fought well and was only troubled by the Korean but had a great match for the Silver.
- Bianca Tandean 63kg – Bronze. Strong fighting from Bianca winning matches against Hong Kong and Australian opponents. Unfortunately, the Korean caught Bianca early in the SF. The Bronze against her Australian opponent was a strong win.
- Aaron Xu 60kg – Bronze. A personal best performance from Aaron only very narrowly losing his first match but beating opponents from New Zealand and Australia for Bronze.
- Crosby Peake 55kg - 5th. In a very tough division of 4 talented Australians, Croz fought hard losing to the Gold medallist in the first match. For Bronze, he was Waza-Ari ahead but was caught in Ne-Waza.
Perth Oceania Junior Cup - 2 Bronze, 2 x 5th
- Max Zollinger 66kg – Bronze. Max defeated his Australian opponent and in the SF had a strong match against his Korean opponent who prevailed after a long match. The Bronze saw a big Ippon against his Australian opponent.
- Bianca Tandean 63kg – Bronze. A win against New Zealand put Bianca in the SF against India who was very strong and dominant on the top hand. Bianca defeated her Samoan opponent in the Bronze match.
- Aaron Xu 60kg - 5th. Great experience against older opponents, Aaron lost to the Gold medallist, had a win against Korea (by default) and a good match losing the Bronze to an Australian opponent.
- Cherese Freeland 48kg - 5th. A visiting athlete from the NT, Cherese lost her first match against Hong Kong and in repechage defeated he Australian opponent after being down a Waza-Ari. In the Bronze she lost to another Hong Kong opponent.
World Kata Championships 28-29 October – Abu Dhabi, UAE
- Bernhard and Bjorn Tandean qualified for and competed in the U/23 World Kata Championships in Katame-No-Kata.
