International Success for NZL Athletes
Congratulations to both Sydnee Andrews (GIS WB) and Maarten de Ridder (REN CA) for achieving Gold and Silver respectively in recent international events.
Sydnee Andrew’s fought in the Tallinn European Open on 5 July where she blitzed her first opponent from Belgium with a warazi after just 10 seconds. They felt into a hold and the fight was over in just 20 seconds!
In the final she faced the Estonian teenage rising star and hometown favourite, Emma-Melis Aktas.
Aktas fought for bronze at last month's Senior World Championships losing to world number one Romane Dicko by a waza-ari and yuko. This was an amazing feat for someone in their first full year as a Junior Woman.
The final in Tallinn was a tight tussle, finally separated with 30 seconds left on the clock when Sydnee produced a counter which scored yuko.
She kept a level head for the remainder of the fight to take the win and a well deserved gold medal in the plus 78kg division.
This reversed their respective fortunes at the same competition last year when Aktas beat Sydnee in round one before going on to win the final.
Meanwhile, the previous weekend Maarten De Ridder (REN, CA) fought in the Pretoria African Open securing second place to South African Timothy Meuwsen in the under 81kg division, unfortunately losing very deep into golden score.
