JUDO: Two Irish Judo Champions for Coleraine

Despite the inclement weather, Rebecca Cuckoo and Caitlin Henry departed from Coleraine at 5am last Saturday morning along with Caitlin’s father Stephen Henry bound for Dublin, where the two girls competed at the All Ireland Judo Championships.

The All Ireland is the Irish Judo Association’s premier event and attracts entries from all parts of the country both North and South.

Having failed to make the Junior Girls under 36kg category by a small margin the keen eleven year old Caitlin entered the under 40kg category.

After putting up a tremendous display of judo by winning all her contests by Ippon (10 points) Caitlin came through with a Gold medal making her an All Ireland Champion.

In the Senior Women’s heavyweight category black belt Rebecca Cuckoo, who normally competes at a lower weight, followed young Caitlin’s success by winning all her contests by Ippon and so the Gold medal giving the Coleraine Club two Irish Champions.

Following a rather long day the medals were presented by Mr Sean Fleming, President of the Irish Judo Association.