World Masters, Doha Qatar 11-13 Jan21. Nathan and Josh
- Josh drew World #18 and European Bronze medallist and Grand Prix Gold medallist Verstraeten from Belgium. Josh fought a very high-paced high-spirited match putting BEL under pressure standing and on the ground. With scores even and only 30 seconds remaining, BEL transitioned Josh to the ground and managed to turn him over for the win. An exceptional performance given the very short notice Josh had to prepare for this event.
- Nathan drew World #4, former World and Masters Champion and multiple Grand Slam/Grand Prix winner An from South Korea. Nathan looked sharp from the start and was moving well. An attacked with Kata-Guruma and Nathan defended well taking An to the ground. In the next exchange they each attacked once and just before the half-way mark An forced Nathan to spin onto his face from a foot sweep. Nath defended on the ground but was eventually held down. An won his next 4 matches to take his second Masters Gold. In the process of defending Nathan twisted his torso causing a fracture to his rib cartilage. Both boys returned home and Nathan had to miss the Tel-Aviv (Israel) Grand Slam and will also miss the Tashkent (Uzbekistan) Grand Slam.
Tel Aviv Grand Slam, Israel 18-20 Feb 21. Josh
- Josh drew Karakizidi from Greece who was former Russian National Champion and multiple European Cup winner. As predicted GRE attacked early with drop Seoi-Nage and brought Josh to turtle position. Josh defended well but as he was trying to get up, GRE changed his technique and turned Josh over for a hold down. This was very disappointing for Josh who was looking forward to getting stuck into this match. GRE then lost to the Russian who won Bronze.
Ongoing Events.
- Following Tel Aviv, the Australian Team was to train in Valencia Spain having previously arranged this with the Spanish National Coach but at the last minute, they were advised that they needed approval from the Spanish Government which was not forthcoming. So Josh is now in Hungary preparing for the Tashkent (Uzbekistan) Grand Slam on 5 March. Nathan will now compete next at the Tblisi (Georgia) Grand Slam on 26 March. Both will then compete in the Antalya (Turkey) Grand Slam (1 April) and then the Asia-Oceania Continental Championships in Bishkek Kyrgysztan (7-10 April) before returning home. However, there is now discussion on rescheduling the Asian event – the situation overseas is certainly fragile and a massive additional obstacle to our athletes. We wish them both all the success in the world at these events.