The tournament concluded a training camp that was held for both teams at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. The camp and tournament served as a qualifying process for the U.S. team, which will be competing in the International Blind Sports Association (IBSA) Judo World Championships June 29-July 3 in Brommat, France.  

At the start of the tournament, a best-of-three fight-off was held between 2004 Paralympian Scott Jones (Little Rock, Ark.) and Andre Watson (Upper Darby, Pa.), silver medalist from the 2005 World Judo Open, to determine who would represent the U.S. in the 90 kg division at the Judo World Championships. Jones won the first fight by three yukos (quarter-point) but Watson came back in the second match, countering the veteran drop seoi nage (low shoulder throw) to win by ippon (instant win) in 57 seconds. In the third match, Watson led with a yuko before getting thrown for wazari (half-point) with a minute remaining. Less than 10 seconds later, Watson hit a maki komi (winding throw) for ippon and gained his spot on the National Team. Following his first match in the Master’s competition, Watson was forced to withdraw from the tournament due to a shoulder injury. 

After his win over Jones, an ecstatic Watson stated “All the hard work day after day has paid off and I am extremely excited to represent the U.S. at the World Championships.”

Watson’s coach Paul Latimer (Upper Darby, Pa.), who trains Watson at the Liberty Bell Judo Club, added, “Andre has trained extremely hard and has a ferocious fighting spirit and deserved to win.”

One of the major highlights of the tournament was U.S. visually impaired athlete Myles Porter (Toledo, Ohio/100kg), who won the bronze in his division.  After losing his opening match to World Team member Djamaldin Aliev (Greenwood Village, Colo.), the 20-year-old Porter then defeated 2006 San Jose Buddhist Memorial gold medalist Joseph Aceto (San Jose, Calif.) and quickly armbarred 2006 High School Nationals silver medalist Alex Gonnov (Denver, Colo.).  Porter then fought former nationally-ranked player Tim Wilson (Monument, Colo.), scoring first with a koka (smallest points), then throwing Wilson for wazari and ending the match with a pin for ippon.  The win gave Porter a chance to challenge Ian Rose (GBR), who had lost the gold medal match to Aliev, for the silver medal. Rose, a four-time Paralympian and 1996 bronze medalist, threw the newcomer for ippon, and Porter left with a bronze.

Other visually impaired athletes who earned bronze medals at the tournament included 2004 Paralympic silver medalist Lori Pierce (Arvada, Colo. /70kg), Maxine Ingram (GBR/63kg), Sara Parson (Springdale, Ark./+78kg) and  Johann Shockency (Andover, Minn./+100kg). Simon Jackson (GBR/73kg), a four-time Paralympian and two-time gold medalist, showed that he is still in top form by winning bronze.

The USABA Judo National Team presented by Tiger Claw who will compete in the 2006 IBSA World Judo Championships will also include Jordan Mouton (Houston, Texas/52kg). The final spot, 81kg, will be contested on May 20 at the California State Judo Championships in San Jose between U.S. Paralympian Scott Jones (Little Rock, Ark.) and three-time Paralympic medalist Scott Moore (Englewood, Colo.).

For additional results of the tournament visit http://www.usjudo.org/.