Two judo golds and a bronze pleased 89 year-old mentor
The Hampton-based club rebranded recently in honour of the 50 years service to the sport of Mr Dearden.
He’s 89 now, but is still a regular attendee of club sessions when he dispenses wise advice.
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Hide AdCovid has restricted the chance for members to compete against other clubs, but young Judokas picked up two gold medals and a bronze in a tough event in Norfolk.
Maxwell Catto and Daniel Stevens were competing in their first event within the Junior (8-12yr) category and Archie Frusher was representing the club in the Senior Players (over15yrs) category.
Maxwell fought well in a challenging pool and succumbed to a couple of strong Ippon scores from the opposition, but was awarded a bronze medal.
Stevens lost his first fight to a strong opponent, but went on to win his following two fights in spectacular fashion to win gold.
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Hide AdHis third fight only lasted a few seconds before he despatched his opponent with a beautiful hip throw to win by a maximum Ippon score.
Frusher won all three of his fights by Ippon to win a gold medal comfortably.
He showed great all-round skills by winning the first fight with a strong foot-sweep and the second with a fabulous counter technique.
Frusher’s final fight was won with a submission following some lovely ground work and a well-executed strangle.