BRITISH OPEN

After a successful first day at the British Open in London, the USA Judo Team swept the gold medals in the women’s divisions on Sunday and also took the men’s heavyweight title.

The four gold medals, combined with a silver and two bronzes, made this event the most successful day at a European event for a U.S. Team since the 1984 Austrian Open when the U.S. women won seven medals.

Jeanette Rodriguez (48kg) and Franchesca Durand (52kg), both of Coral Springs, Fla. and the USA Judo National Training Site won titles in their respective divisions. Valerie Gotay (Harlingen, Texas / Harlingen USA Judo National Training Site / 57kg) and Kirk Hoffmann (Colorado Springs, Colo. / Olympic Training Center USA Judo National Training Site / +100kg) also each won gold. (Valery Gotay's coach, double Olympic bronze medallist Israel Hernandez, is pictured below left)

Sixteen-year-old Rodriguez earned not only her first European B-Level medal, but made it a gold in a difficult division.

Rodriguez opened the day with a win by points over nine-time British National

Champion Fiona Robertson (GBR). In her next match, she pinned Lisa Stevens with sankaku (triangle hold) for ippon.

“The first match was actually my hardest of the day. I fought really early, probably an hour and a half after weigh-ins, and I think I caught a stomach virus out here so I was feeling really bad this morning, but once the day got going, things got better,” Rodriguez said.

After a break, Rodriguez fought her semifinal – a 10-minute match against Swedish

Open silver medalist Carin Hamnlund (SWE). After a scoreless first five minutes, the match went to Golden Score where both athletes made attacks, but neither could produce a score by the end of the five-minute period and Rodriguez won the match by decision.

“You know, it didn’t really seem that hard. I had a nice break before the semis, so I felt

good going into the match and wasn’t really all that tired afterward,” she said of her marathon session.

In the final, Rodriguez found herself up against Ana Hormigo (POR), one of the top 30 players in the world and a five-time World Cup medalist who had beaten six-time National Champion Sayaka Matsumoto (El Cerrito Calif. / NYAC / East Bay Judo Institute) earlier in the day.

Hormigo was given a penalty for stalling three minutes into the fight that ultimately would give the gold medal to Rodriguez.

“She was very strong, extremely strong, but she didn’t attack once in the first three minutes,” Rodriguez said. “They gave her the penalty and then she picked up the pressure and it was a really good fight for the rest of the match.”

Even after Hormigo’s attacks increased, she still couldn’t throw Rodriguez who won the gold medal – her

second at a B-Level after her win over Matsumoto at the U.S. Open and one of her first wins against such a highly ranked European player.

“I knew she’d won like five World Cup medals before the match, but it didn’t bother me because it makes me see what I can do against them. If they’re that big and that famous and I can win, just imagine what I can do,” Rodriguez said. “I’m psyched that I won. I’m not surprised, but I’m proud of myself. I was a little nervous earlier because they were people I’d heard of, but never fought, but it’s all new and it was exciting.”

Gotay, always notorious for getting a tough draw, continued her infamous streak in London, but stepped up to the challenge, winning each of her five matches to take the gold medal with only one match lasting longer than a minute.

After beating Kelly-Ann Downey (GBR) in the first round, Gotay fought Georgina Singleton (GBR), a five-time European Championship medalist at 52kg who had beaten Gotay in the bronze medal round of the Swedish Open.

“She pinned me the last time we fought and I pinned her to win this one,” Gotay said. “She caught me by surprise in Sweden because she won on a newaza (groundwork) move that I wasn’t aware she does, but this time I controlled the match and came away with the win.”

Gotay won her next two matches by quick ippons to advance to her final against five-time World Cup medalist Joana Ramos (POR).

Again, Gotay dominated the match early and armbarred Ramos in less than a minute.

“Everything was pretty fast today which always makes me happy,” Gotay laughed. “We’re definitely on track. This is my first tournament of five on the European Tour, so it’s good to start off this way. All of these tournaments are good preparation for me. I did have a tough draw, but that’s the story of my life and I’d rather fight the toughest girls so I can see how I stack up.”

After a first-round bye, 15-year-old Franchesca Durand won her first two matches against in the 52kg division against Jodie Carter (GBR) and Siobhan O’Neill (GBR), taking both wins by ippon in the final minute.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the draw, four-time National Champion Carrie Chandler (Glenville, N.Y. / NYAC / Jason Morris Judo Center) also won her first two matches against Ariane Bijould (CAN) and Kirstene Feenan (GBR) by ippons to advance to the final against Durand.

Although Chandler and Durand are ranked #1 and #2 in the U.S., respectively, the two have only fought twice, with Chandler taking both wins – the last of which was at the 2005 U.S. Open.

Chandler was given a shido (penalty) less than 10 seconds into the match and in the second minute both athletes were penalized for stalling.

With a minute and a half left in the match, Durand threw Chandler with a sumi gaeshi (sacrifice throw) for a waza-ari (half-point) score that would decide the match, making Durand the tournament’s youngest champion.

Kirk Hoffmann won the men’s only gold medal, winning his first three matches in a round robin division by ippon (instant win) in less than two minutes each over Christopher Sharpe (GBR), former U.S. #1 Daniel McCormick (Wakefield, Mass. / Team FORCE) and 2006 British Nationals silver medalist John Curry.

Hoffmann’s only loss of the day came to 2006 British National Champion Joe Delahay who beat Hoffmann two penalties to one.

Delahay had lost to Curry earlier in the day, giving him a 3-1 record as well; therefore, Hoffmann was awarded the gold medal as he had won more matches by ippon.

McCormick finished with a bronze, winning against Sharpe and Curry, but losing to Delahay and Hoffmann.

Travis Stevens (Glenville, N.Y. / Jason Morris Judo Center / 81kg) won the seventh medal for the United States, earning a bronze in the day’s largest division.

After a first-round win over Britain’s #2 player Tom Davis, Stevens lost eventual champion Hugo Silva (POR) to drop down to the repechage. In Silva’s next match, he beat 2004 Olympian Rick Hawn (Wakefield, Mass. / Team FORCE) on penalties.

In the repechage, Stevens, who had just defeated Alex Heaney (GBR), beat Hawn by a yuko.

In the next repechage match, Stevens beat Kalem Kachur (CAN) to advance to the bronze medal match against Adam Bick (GBR).

Stevens had previously bean Bick en route to winning the 2006 U.S. Open and won again in London, throwing Bick for a yuko 12 seconds into Golden Score.

Stevens, Rodriguez and Durand all are members of the USA Judo Elite U-23 Team, a program designed to bridge the gap between the junior and senior divisions through international training and competition opportunities, including the British Open.

“The team did fantastic today,” said U-23 Head Coach and two-time Olympic medalist Jimmy Pedro (Wakefield, Mass.) “The kids continued to exceed not only the expectations of the coaches, but of the rest of the world as well. We’re definitely on the right track and there’s a lot of potential, if we keep doing the right things, for even more success.”

Complete results are as follows:

Women’s 48kg

1. Jeannette Rodr�guez (Coral Springs, Fla. / North Miami USA Judo Nacional Training Site), 4-0

2. Ana Hormigo (POR)

3. Bianca Ockedahl (CAN)

3. Donna Robertson (GBR)

5. Sayaza Matsumoto (El Cerrito, Calif. / NYAC / East Bay Judo Institute), 3-2

5. Carin Hamnlund (SWE)

7. Fiona Robertson (GBR)

7. Amelia Rosseneu (BEL)

Also Competed: Ann Shiraishi (Elk Grove, Calif. / East Bay Judo Institute), 0-2; Michelle Sternick (Mansfield, Pa. / Mansfield Judo), 0-2; and Veronica Prado (Coral Springs, Fla. / North Miami USA Judo National Training Site), 0-1

Women’s 52kg

1. Franchesca Durand (Coral Springs, Fla. / North Miami USA Judo National Training Site), 3-0

2. Carrie Chandler (Glenville, N.Y. / NYAC / Jason Morris Judo Center), 2-1

3. Kirstene Feenan (GBR)

3. Jodie Carter (GBR)

5. Grace Ohashi (Colorado Springs, Colo. / Olympic Training Center USA Judo National Training Site), 2-2

5. Siobhan O’Neill (GBR)

7. Anna Palmer (Colorado Springs, Colo. / Olympic Training Center USA Judo National Training Site), 1-2

Women’s 57kg

1. Valerie Gotay (Harlingen, Texas / Harlingen USA Judo National Training Site), 5-0

2. Joana Ramos (POR)

3. Georgina Singleton (GBR)

3. Gemma Howell

5. Rebecca Dunning (GBR)

5. Sonya Clarke (GBR)

7. Maria Lindberg (SWE)

7. Chloe Ballard (GBR)

Men’s 81kg

1. Hugo Silva (POR)

2. Lorenzo Bagnoli (ITA)

3. Euan Burton (GBR)

3. Travis Stevens (Glenville, N.Y. / Jason Morris Judo Center), 5-1

5. Thorgal Auspert (BEL)

5. Adam Bick (GBR)

7. Jonas Sandstrom (SWE)

7. Kalem Kachur (CAN)

Also Competed: Rick Hawn (Wakefield, Mass. / Team FORCE), 0-2; Harry St. Leger (Brooklyn, N.Y. / Starrett Judo), 0-1; Andrew Hung (San Jose, Calif. / San Jose State University), 0-2; Yuko Sin (Glenville, N.Y. / Jason Morris Judo Center), 0-1; and Philip Spano (Coral Springs, Fla. / North Miami USA Judo National Training Site), 0-1

Men’s 90kg

1. Peter Cousins (GBR)

2. Winston Gordon (GBR)

3. Vasile Panfil (GBR)

3. Ivan Shakhvorostov (GBR)

5. Evgeny Shakhvorostov (GBR)

5. Bobby Rich (GBR)

7. Landry Ambouroue (Colorado Springs, Colo. / Olympic Training Center USA Judo National Training Site), 1-2

7. Sam Ivor Delahay (GBR)

Also Competed: Atsushi Yoshinaga (San Jose, Calif. / San Jose State University), 0-2; Garry St. Leger (Brooklyn, N.Y. / Starrett Judo), 1-2

Men’s 100kg

1. Joao Taveira (POR)

2. Scott Edward (CAN)

3. Christopher Sherrington (GBR)

3. Phillip Nutter (GBR)

5. Aaron Handy (Fairfield, Ohio / Renshuden), 1-2

5. Gavin McNeill (GBR)

7. Charles Kobelke (AUS)

7. Fergus Dullaghan (GBR)

Also Competed: Adler Volmar (Coral Springs, Fla. / North Miami USA Judo National Training Site), 0-2

Men’s +100kg

1. Kirk Hoffmann (Colorado Springs, Colo. / Olympic Training Center USA Judo National Training Site), 3-1

2. Joe Delahay (GBR)

3. Daniel McCormick (Wakefield, Mass. / Team FORCE), 2-2

3. John Curry (GBR)

For more information, contact Nicole Jomantas, USA Judo Director of Communications and Media Relations, at 719.271.9937 (cell)

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