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Three to contest
Judo titles
Three Canberra judoka have
been selected to fight for NSW in
the Australian championships in
Brisbane, on Saturday week.
The three are Geoff Tate, and Luis
Val, both of Canberra International
Judo Club, and Mark Scully, who lives
in Canberra, but is a member of the
Moss Vale International Judo Club.
Tate, a second dan black belt and
president of the ACT Amateur Judo
Association, will fight in the heavy
weight (over 95kg) division, which usu-
ally features some huge contestants.
Last year the Queensland heavyweight
representative weighed 170kg and
finished only second.
Val, a first dan black belt, at 18 is
the youngest member of the State team,
and is expected to go very close to
winning the national men's title. Last
year he won the Oceania and Australian
under-20 titles in his usual weight
division, under 71kg, and also won the
NSW men's under 78kg championship
after failing to make the weight in
under 71 kg. He will fight in under 71 kg
at the nationals.
Scully, last year's Oceania under-20
years open-weight champion, will fight
in the extremely tough under-86kg
division and his toughest opponent will
be the national champion, Mark Carew,
of University of NSW.
Carew is regarded as the hardest man
in Australian judo for throwing techni-
ques, but Scully is equally highly
esteemed for his ne waza (groundwork,
including holds, armlocks, and
strangles), so the likely national final
will show a complete contrast of judo
styles.
All three will have more incentive
than a gold medal at the championships,
as two Australian men's teams, and in
Val's case, a young men's team, will be
travelling overseas this year. The teams
will probably be limited to national
champions.
A men's team will travel to either
Switzerland in August for the world
championships, and another national
team will attend the Jigoro Kano Cup
in Tokyo in November. The national
young men's (under 20 years) team will
take part in the young men's world titles
in Venezuela in September.
The NSW team to this year's
nationals will be under the management
of another Canberra International
judoka, Damian Bourne. Another
Canberra International player, Donna
Potter, 16, has been named as a reserve
for the NSW women's team, and will
also travel to Brisbane, although she
will not fight unless there is a
withdrawal.
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