6:15pm Thursday 5th March 2009
By Gazette Sports
THE English Open Judo Championships at Kendal Judo Club's dojo on the weekend of March 21/22 has just become a major international tournament with the entry of seven Russian champions from St. Petersburg.
The St Petersburg club has among its members Vladimir Putin, the former Russian president and now its prime minister.
The competition had already been assured of a high standard when the British national squad managers had made the event a compulsory one for the national squads.
It will be used as a selection event for a number of European and World championships and Kendal's premises is considered to be ideal for the event.
Among the Russians entering is ECC U23 silver medallist Eyybov, together with ECC champions and gold medallists in several U20 champion-ships throughout Europe, Tolasov and Betanov.
The party also includes the Russian champion at U90 kilos Gasiev and super heavyweight World Cup silver medallist Dzhanaeb.
Kendal has not seen such a major sporting event for a very long time and the club is welcoming everyonee to go along and watch some of the top judo players in action.
Each day's contests will begin at 9am and continue non-stop throughout the day.
The English championships take place on the weekend of the club’s 50th anniversary dinner at the Castle Green Hotel, tickets for which are still available.
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