Gracie Barra Isle of Man sent a mixed team of juniors and adults to the Compnet UK Jiu-Jitsu Championship in London recently.
Because of flight issues at that time it was uncertain as to whether the team was even going to make the tournament and ultimately they were very tired when they did arrive.
Not to let that deter them too much, all competitors put on great displays of jiu-jitsu and the total medal count by the end of the day was six gold, six silver and four bronze.
Summer Roberts dominantly won gold in her final with a choke submission finish in an incredible 13 seconds.
Hanako Henson took gold after winning her semi-final in only 15 seconds with an arm-bar submission and then her final with yet another arm-bar finish.
Daisy Moore won her final, showing great technical ability and racking up a 14-0 lead before taking gold with a submission victory two minutes into the match.
Alan Greenhalgh took a methodical approach to his match and claimed a great victory and gold in his division winning 13-0 on points.
Finlay Eve won his final in style with a submission 30 seconds into the match to take a well-deserved gold.
British champion Hayley Curtis took gold after a 3-0 win on points in the final against an experienced and technical guard player.
Liam Blakemore showed fantastic guard work in his semi-final to win on points and had a great battle with one of the top-seeded competitors in the final where he took silver.
Iona Meban took silver after a great semi-final win with a submission victory one minute into the match after already scoring 3-0.
Stanlagh Mayers was calm and collected in his quarter-final match and had a superb 25-0 point victory to take home bronze.
Head coach Conrad Roberts added: ‘Like most Isle of Man clubs that participate in tournaments off-island we’ve got to deal with the extra travel and possible disruption which isn’t ideal, but I’m proud of how the competitors dealt with it and remained focused.
‘We’re having a strong year already in competition and will be back in action in Manchester shortly.’
l Gracie Barra Isle of Man is hoping to raise £4,000 to assist with competitor costs for the IBJJF European Championships later in the year.
Anyone wishing to contribute can do so online here: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/gbiom?utm_term=MZJp7Q2kN