After a long break in competition due to the corona pandemic, the U15 championship finally took place. Unfortunately, the KEM had to be canceled at the beginning of the year due to the low number of participants, so that the Herten fighters were allowed to go directly to the district championship.
On February 26th, 2022, the U15 district championship finally took place in Bocholt. The girls started it off. Here Ammely Kaptur (-36 kg), Felicitas Pungs (-48 kg) and Julie Lauer (-63 kg) started. All three are still fighting in the U13 and are the last to get a taste of the U15. Julie was unstoppable on Saturday. Despite the age difference, she was able to win both fights early. Julie was able to win the first victory with a hold when transitioning from standing to the ground. She ended the second fight after only about 4 seconds with her Tai-otoshi. So Julie, as district champion, is going to the West German individual championship next week. Ammely Kaptur made the first two fights very exciting, but she couldn’t use her special technique, so she unfortunately had to admit defeat in the end. In her final and third fight, she was able to bring her opponent down with her o-goshi and then win with a grab. So Ammely was happy about the bronze medal in the end. Felicitas Pungs was also able to gain a lot of experience at the BEM and got a bronze medal. The three girls are going to the West German Individual Championships on March 6th, 2022, the highest level in the U15s, in Dormagen.
After the girls, it was the boys’ turn. Here Lukas Kauch (-55 kg) also started as the last year of the U13. Just like the girls, Lukas made it very exciting. His first fight went the full length of the fight and he had to admit defeat at the end. Unfortunately, the second fight also went to the later district champion. In his third and last fight Lukas showed his skills and won it after only 3 seconds! He was therefore also able to celebrate a bronze medal and will be able to go to Dormagen next week on March 5th, 2022 for the West German Individual Championships.
Considering the long break in competition and that all four fighters are still fighting in the U13 age group, it was a very good performance and a good start to the championship.
