Sayaka and Ann check in from Sweden

Asanuma Sensei, Ann, Sayaka, with teammates Marti and Michael at the tournament

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Greetings from Sweden! Ann and I have been in the small town of Boras for almost a week now. We arrived last Thursday in the city of Gothenburg and were transported to the Scandic hotel in Boras. Since we arrived, things have been extremely busy.

We competed on Saturday, with Ann finishing in 7th place and myself finishing in 5th place. We competed against opponents from Great Britain, Turkey, Poland, and Germany. The tournament itself was very tough, with our division having around 16 women. Tycally the tournament attracts many tough competitors because of the 1000 euro prize money given to the first place winner (This is equivalent to around $1500).

On Sunday we relaxed at the tournament and watched our teammates compete. Our honorary dojo member, Mike Eldred, fought extremely well and took 3rd place in the -73 kilo division. The division had 51 competitors, and was very tough. Mike fought hard and we were all very proud of him.

Monday through Wednesday we participated in an international training camp at the tournament site. We had 2 workouts a day, both with newaza and tachiwaza. It gave us an opportunity to work with the women from the tournament and work on new things.

Today is Thursday morning and at 9:30 we leave for Finland. First we are boarding a bus to go to the ferry terminal. The bus ride is 5 hours long. We then take a ferry from Sweden to Finland, which is 16 hours long. Needless to say, its going to be a long day.

We miss everyone back home and hope you are doing well. We’ll send you an update from Finland!

Sayaka

For more coverage of the Swedish Open:

www.ippon.org

US Judo Press Release – Day 1

US Judo Press Release – Day 2