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The Scottish Open 2025

Writer's picture: EdinburghJudoEdinburghJudo

📸: Jeff Holmes - https://www.jshpix.co/
📸: Jeff Holmes - https://www.jshpix.co/

The weekend of the 18th-19th of January saw several EdinburghJudo players step up for the first tournament of the year: the 2025 Scottish Open. Big Gav, Sarah C, Sarah A, Nick and Craig were on hand to coach matside, plus a substantial group of family and friends from the club were in the stands to support across the weekend.


It was a very busy event, with the team fighting amongst some of the best players throughout the UK and beyond, with plenty of action across both days of competition.


 

VETERANS & CADETS - SATURDAY 18TH JANUARY


📸: Jeff Holmes
📸: Jeff Holmes

Morgan VERDOUX (-73kg) – Morgan returned to competition in fine form following a fifth-place finish at the Scottish Closed Championships in November, where he broke his nose, resulting in a break from training over the festive period. The time away recovering from injury didn't hinder his performance one bit, with Morgan going into every contest composed and clinical, throwing all three of his opponents for ippon and coming away with the gold medal.


📸: Jeff Holmes
📸: Jeff Holmes

Rafal LICHODZIEJEWSKI (+100kg) – Rafal came into the Scottish Open with only one other competitor in his category - the previous winner of last year's competition. The two were put into a round-robin, where Rafal exhibited an array of powerful judo, winning his first fight with a monumental throw and his second with a hold down before his opponent conceded a third contest, giving Rafal the top spot on the podium.


 

📸: Jeff Holmes
📸: Jeff Holmes

Szymon SWZED (-66kg) – Still settling into competing at the cadet level, this was Szymon's first experience at the Scottish Open. Although he lost both his contests in the stacked -66kg category, Szymon showed great resilience and aspects of what we have been working on in training throughout his exchanges. He will no doubt start to see his hard work in training pay off with more experience competing at a higher level.


Fergus WILSON (-66kg) – Fergus, who managed to avoid all paparazzi over the weekend, also came into the Scottish Open competing at this level for the first time. Fergus lost both of his matches, however much like Szymon, he exhibited great tenacity and potential in his contests that we will continue to build on as he gains further competitive experience throughout the year.


📸: Jeff Holmes
📸: Jeff Holmes

Omar KARAALLAL (-73kg) – Omar had a great run in the cadet event, starting his day with a contest that lasted almost six minutes in which Omar held his own and ended the contest with a strong hold down to secure his first win of the day. A loss in the next round dropped Omar into the repechage, but he kept composed and determined going into his next contests, winning his first repechage fight with a huge takedown and throwing his opponent for ippon after being a waza-ari down in his second. Omar lost in his third contest after his attack was countered into a holddown, ending his competition with a well-deserved 7th place. Unfortunately, Omar had to withdraw from the junior event on Sunday due to an injury he sustained in his last contest. Despite this, he still came the following day to support his teammates and help players warm up before their contests.


 

JUNIORS & SENIORS - SUNDAY 19TH JANUARY


📸: Andrea Robertson
📸: Andrea Robertson

Liam THOMPSON (-66kg) – Liam kicked off the first junior category of the day with a bang, coming out cool and calculated in his tactics, winning his first contest with a huge ura-nage for ippon after a series of compelling exchanges. A loss in the next round dropped Liam into the repechage, where he unfortunately lost the following contest, ending his day at the Scottish Open with a strong performance in a highly contested category.


📸: Andrea Robertson
📸: Andrea Robertson

Kirsty WILSON (-70kg) – Our only player fighting in both the cadet and junior categories, Kirsty came up against two strong international competitors and the top two ranked GB -70kg cadets on her first day of competition. Kirsty lost all four of her contests amongst this tough group; however, she didn't let that dishearten her and used the experience to prepare for her second day of competition in the junior category. She came out strong and composed in her first contest of the day, throwing her opponent with a huge koshi-garuma for ippon. Unfortunately, despite continuing to show great determination, Kirsty lost her next two bouts which ended her competition in the junior category. However, she showed exactly how to turn around the momentum of a weekend of fighting and should be proud of her performance.


📸: Andrea Robertson
📸: Andrea Robertson

Evan LEES (-90kg) – Evan came into the Scottish Open with purpose, following a strong 7th-place finish at the British Championships in December. Despite Evan's consistent display of methodical newaza exchanges, a first-round loss against the eventual gold medallist dropped him into the repechage, but Evan worked hard to regain the momentum, winning his next contest with an armlock for ippon. A lengthy second repechage contest lasted almost nine and a half minutes, with Evan managing to retain an impressive pace throughout every exchange before he was unfortunately thrown for waza-ari, ending his day with another good performance at this level.


📸: Andrea Robertson
📸: Andrea Robertson

Ethan WYPER (-90kg) – Still finding his feet in his new weight category, Ethan fought well but unfortunately lost both of his contests against an international competitor and a top-15 ranked GB player. Ethan will continue to adapt to -90kg and it will no doubt begin to pay off as he continues to clock in more mat time and gain experience in his new category throughout 2025.


📸: Andrea Robertson
📸: Andrea Robertson

Archie MacGOWAN (+100kg) – It was a tough day at the office for Archie, who was placed into a pool of three in his category. A lack of his usual composure and mistakes ultimately came at a cost, with Archie losing both of his contests, which ended his tournament. Although perhaps a disappointing result, this gave Archie a chance to reflect on how to adapt his game plan and navigate the pace of a contest as he continues to gain experience competing at this level.


 

📸: Andrea Robertson
📸: Andrea Robertson

Aine FERRY (-63kg) – Aine was all speed in the senior -63kg category, coming out fast and promptly setting the pace in every contest. In her first fight, Aine threw her opponent with a rogue left harai-goshi for waza-ari, before swiftly taking her opponent to the ground and securing a holddown to win the match. A second contest saw Aine up against the eventual silver medalist, who quickly got to work in an attempt to kill Aine's speedy antics by holding her down in newaza. Although Aine managed to escape and briefly flip the exchange in her favour, she unfortunately lost control of her opponent and was held down again for ippon. Another loss on the ground in her third fight brought the end of Aine's competition, however, her performance marked a strong start to her competitive year.

📸: Andrea Robertson
📸: Andrea Robertson

Andrew LAPPIN (-66kg) – The Scottish Open was Andrew's first event back in the -66kg category after a previous stint in -73kg. It didn't take Andrew long to settle back into place amongst the lightweights, consistently putting in dynamic attacks and winning his first contest with a huge kouchi-gari for ippon. A golden score loss in his second fight against the eventual bronze medallist dropped Andrew into the repechage, and despite another good win taking him out of the repechage and onto the road to the podium, mistakes ultimately cost Andrew his last contest and a chance to fight for bronze.


📸: Andrea Robertson
📸: Andrea Robertson

Reece EDWARDS (-73kg) – Going into his second year in the -73kg category, Reece certainly showed that he is a player to contend with. Following a first-round bye, a loss in golden score to the eventual bronze medallist in his second round dropped Reece into the repechage, however, this certainly didn't slow his momentum, as he displayed great determination and went on to win the following two contests with some spectacular throws. A loss in the next round ended Reece's chances to fight for bronze, and he came away with a respectable 7th-place finish to start his year.


📸: Andrea Robertson
📸: Andrea Robertson

Hazel TAYLOR (-78kg) – Hazel was all business in the -78kg category, following her gold medal performance at the Scottish Closed Championships in November. Finding herself in a pool of five, Hazel secured a first-round win in golden score to start off her day. Despite losses in the next two rounds against the eventual gold and silver medallists, Hazel kept her head high and came into her final contest of the day composed and determined to end her competition on the podium, taking her opponent down for two waza-ari scores for the win and claiming the bronze medal.


📸: Andrea Robertson
📸: Andrea Robertson

Scott CUSACK (-90kg) – The Scottish Open was a return to competition for Scott, after a break from competitive judo following obtaining his titles of Scottish and British Champion in 2023. Receiving arguably one of the toughest draws of the competition, Scott's first fight was against Bearach GLEESON of Ireland - a match-up many initially anticipated would be the final. All eyes were glued to the mat with suspense, with the contest spanning over eight and a half minutes before Scott threw his opponent with a swift tai-otoshi for ippon. Another two impressive wins secured Scott's place in the final alongside Kosei Cuyler from SportJudo in Virginia, USA. It was a very tight and technical contest, with the two having trained together at the club previously and in the weeks leading up to the competition. As expected, the contest progressed into golden score as both anticipated and shut down each other's attacks until the match was ultimately decided on shidos, with Kosei receiving the third and final penalty which gave Scott the win and the gold medal.


 

📸: Jeff Holmes


Although some may be disappointed with their results, all who stepped up to compete at this level gave great performances. They showed constant improvements and displayed in their contests what we have been working on in training. Win or lose, everyone conducted themselves in a way that was a credit to themselves and the club, and each player came away with something to work on for the upcoming year - well done everyone!


RESULTS:

Morgan V (Veteran -73KG) - GOLD

Rafal L (Veteran +100KG) - GOLD

Scott C (Senior -90KG) - GOLD

Hazel T (Senior -78KG) - BRONZE



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