Sam Charalambous centre takes gold

Two Cypriot judoka from the Sobell Judo Club in London travelled to Thessaloniki, Greece with the JFAUK National Judo Team to take part in the 2017 Miyazaki International Cup. The tournament drew elite judoka from nine different countries, with the whole UK team coming away with six medals.

Cypriot Sam Charalambous was the one to watch on the day as he was on perfect form, storming through his category with clean throw after clean throw to take the gold in the men’s -75kg category. Next up was Cypriot Sam Sampson who was competing in the men’s -79kg category. Sam progressed through his category with textbook technique before meeting a Bulgarian judoka in the final. Although an extremely close fight that went the distance, the Bulgarian managed to take the win on points, leaving Sam with the silver medal.

Also competing from the Sobell Judo Club was Alexis Bardini of the mens -71kg category who was also on fine form, working his way through his category before meeting a Greek judoka in the final. However, the greek judoka managed to get the better of Alexis this time, leaving Alexis with the silver medal.

In addition to the London Judoka, Jason Baird from Dundee took the Silver in the Veterans -79kg and Ross Elliot from Worthing took the Gold in the mens -100kg, and also a bronze in the Mens Open Weight.

Overall a strong performance from the team, coming away with excellent results in every category. Sobell Judo Club is run by Cypriot born 8th Dan Sampson Sampson, who has been teaching judo for over 40 years. Sobell trains Mondays and Wednesdays at the Sobell Leisure Center. For more information please visit: www.sobelljudoclub.com