JUDO NEW ZEALAND

Diane Limbrey (WEL WN) has been flying the New Zealand flag as a referee this month in Europe.

First it was in Istanbul, Turkey at the Junior European Cup on 3-4 May.  It was a packed weekend of excellent judo with 505 players competing over 3 mats which made for long day with the preliminary rounds not finishing until after 7pm and the final block not until after 9pm, both days.

Then it was onto Gori, Georgia for the Senior European Cup the following weekend.  Although the number of players was low in comparison to Istanbul the enthusiasm and noise from the crowd certainly showed their passion for both judo and their country while the style of judo seen was very different to what is practised  in New Zealand.