Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Elaina wins 2 Bronze Medals in Panama


Elaina Cuffy led the Bahamian team to two Bronze medals over the past weekend. One Medal was won in the Pan American Infantile Championships and the other in the Panama Open.

Elaina is 11 years old and fights in the +52 Kg category. She defeated the Panamanian champion with ippon (instant win) throws on the way to both victories. Her other matches were close and she narrowly missed a silver in both tournaments.

"I am very excited to begin training again," said Elaina. " We train a lot and it is fun, and I know that I won because of it." This was Elaina's first international tournament.

Team Captain Tajaro Hudson also turned in an impressive performance throwing the Puerto Rican Champion for ippon in seconds in the 56 Kg under 13 Category. He lost in the medal round to the United States ending up with 5th place.

" I am disappointed," said Tajaro. " I made a gripping error and my opponent, who was very good got me." This was Tajaro's second time at the Panamerican Juveniles and first as Team Captain. "Being Team Captain is great, I got to warm up the team and give them advise on their strategies against their opponents."

Artio McPhee (-31 Kg) and Andrew Munnings (-34 Kg) performed well in all of their matches but lost to more experienced opponents.

"The program has definitely improved," said Coach D'Arcy Rahming, who accompanied the team. "We concentrated on movement and footsweeps for preparation. The summer was grips and groundwork. Now I can see that we really need to concentrate on improving core strength."

For more information on Bahamas Judo you can contact the Headquarters at 242-364-6773.