WRESTLING: Having won a plethora of medals at a variety of national and interntional competitions in judo and jiu-jitsu in recent months, the students of The Dojo at Blue Treet, Phuket demonstrated exactly how adept they are at the art of kurash wrestling with another impressive show earlier this month.
The Phuket-based students were taking part in the Kids, Cadet, Junior and Senior Kurash Wrestling Thailand Championships 2023 in Phitsanulok province in the north of the country from May 6-9.
This was the 10th year the national competition was held, with over 300 athletes, officials and referees from more than 40 clubs from all over the country taking part.
The students from Dojo at Blue Tree Phuket performed brilliantly and emerged with a total of 10 medals from the competition, including six gold, one silver and three bronze.
Gold medals went to students Gabin, Platon, Timur and David, while Anton and Dojo head instructor Alexis Plantard won gold in the men’s 73kg and 90kg weight class respectively to both earn champion of Thailand awards.
Student Leo won a silver medal while Naithon, Tomo and Sota all won bronze medals from their bouts and Kiichi finished in an admirable fifth place in his contest.
Furthermore, Timur won recogniton by being named as the best national competitor in the boy’s 10-12 years old age category for his outstanding display and the team won the trophy for best team performance in the 9-14 years old class.
This fine overall performance comes after the team won the best overall team in the 10-12 year age class at last year’s tournament, proof that the team is growing and getting stronger according to Alexis.
“The team have been on fire at recent jiu-jitsu and judo tournaments so it is so great to see them not only developing their skills but winning medals in yet another discipline, this time in kurash wrestling,” Alexis told The Phuket News.
The Dojo team claimed the number one national ranking within Thailand in the under-12 age group at the National Championships of Judo in Nakhon Si Thammarat on Apr 20.
The tournament was the first time that the Sports Authority of Thailand permitted foreign competitors to enter and the 11 members of the Dojo team seized their chance by winning an impressive seven-medal haul.
This feat came off the back of the National Championships of Jiu-Jitsu in Bangkok on the weekend of Apr 7-9 where the team claimed a staggering 19 medals.
“The progress of the team is outstanding and I could not be prouder,” said Alexis. “All the recent achievements prove that all the hard work the students put in at the Dojo pays off and prepares them to perform to the best of their abilities come competition time. We are developing a fine team of athletes.”
For more information visit the Dojo at Blue Tree Facebook page or contact [email protected] / tel: 092-805-8527.
