World Championship 5th Place for Alex

A World Championship 5th Place gave Kendal Judo Club's Alex Farrington her career best performance in Antalya, Turkey last week. Fighting in the Under 57 kilo weight category Alex started well with a minor score against Marion Coadou of France but was then held down for the full point. Undeterred she then came back strongly in the repechage throwing Fassa of Greece for Ippon (full point). This put her against a skilful Japanese fighter, Tanaka, who was no match for the British player when she was thrown in under a minute. In the Bronze medal fight Alex fought the home favourite Duygu Cete whose strength overcame the British fighter to leave her just outside the medals and the best placed British female fighter in the Championships.
Afterwards Dave Saunders, Paralympic Manager said that "Competing in her first World Championships was always going to be a big challenge but she did herself and the team proud. She knows where she needs to be to be able to compete in London 2012."
Alex's 5th place tops one of the busiest months Kendal Judo Club has had in a long while. The last three weekends has seen the club host three major National Championships / Trials which had a significant bearing on the composition of the British National Squads. The first weekend had the National Under 20 Year Trials with the high performance Squad managers and coaches taking a very critical look at the potential future Olympians. The following week it was the turn of the Under 16 Year old players. These were the best competitors from Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland as well as England, with each country used the competition to select their cadet squads.
Finally the third weekend had the English Senior Open Championships with competitors from Belgium, Australia, Sweden, Japan, New Zealand and Lithuania taking part as well as some of the top British players. The standard of the foreign visitors could be noted from the fact that they all took medals back home with them.
In all, over the last three weeks, in the region of 500 competitors, along with their coaches and supporters, have entered the Kendal Dojo and enjoyed the Lake District hospitality and scenery.