JUDO: Curtis has the golden touch in Italy (From This Is Wiltshire)

JUDO: Curtis has the golden touch in Italy

7:50am Saturday 21st November 2009

• Print
• Email
• Share
• Comments(0)

UNDERDOG Craig Curtis grabbed gold in the European Judo Masters Championships at Lignano, Italy.

The Swindon fighter beat powerhouse Russian Igor Fominykh in the final of the men’s M3 +100kg, for competitors aged between 40 and 44.

Curtis was by far the lightest in the category at just 104kg and received a bye in the first round, before being pitted against Frenchman Pascal Carrasco.

The Wiltshire man was always in control, and he threw and held his opponent to end the contest early.

This put Curtis in the semi-final against Aleksandr Kalinichenko, which resulted in a tight match with no score.

But Curtis finished it with a devastating arm lock which saw the Russian desperately submit.

This earned Curtis a passage to the final, to meet Fominykh, who had won all his fights with huge throws.

Although most had the Russian down as the favourite, Curtis looked assured and confident in the competition’s showpiece event.

After a brief exchange, Curtis stunned the crowd by taking Fominykh to the ground and pinning him for 25 seconds, to add another title to his impressive collection.

Three other players from the Swindon club also competed at the championships in the form of Paul Daultrey, Roy Walker and Lee Adams.

Walker and Daultrey were both taking part in the men’s M1 -73kg for competitors between 30 and 34.

Daultrey started the fighting against a Danish player. Although relatively new to international competition, he gave a creditable performance before going down to a stranglehold in the final few seconds.

Walker was on the other side of the draw against the talented Swede, Jimmy Decker.

After dominating the early stages, Walker was caught by the Scandinavian’s accomplished technique, which ended the bout.

But the Swindon club man was given the chance to compete for bronze after Decker progressed to the final.

Walker’s Italian opponent finished the fight with a counter throw, which saw the Englishman then drawn against the number one Italian player.

The match swayed one way and then the other, with the home favourite eventually winning the contest by the smallest of margins.

The fourth Swindon club member to fight at the competition was Lee Adams, in the men’s M5 -81kg category for players aged between 50 and 54.

His fight against French World Championship silver medallist Christian Figari went the distance, but Adams lost on a penalty.

After Figari progressed to the final, Adams was in with a chance at the bronze medal.

He first despatched an Italian fighter, but then lost a tight contest against an Austrian player to end his tournament.

• Print
• Email
• Share
• Comments(0)