The judokas from the Gandoy gymnasium in Gijón performed brilliantly in the kata category at the Spanish Judo Championships held last weekend in the Madrid town of Villaviciosa de Odón. The championship is celebrating its 25th anniversary and has seen the highest participation in its history.
The pair formed by Marcos Rodríguez and Alejandro Sastre were crowned champions of Spain, while Naroa Escanciano and Paul Villota were silver, and Marina Canteli and Andrea García, bronze. Gandoy had two other pairs, those formed by the brothers Matías and Bernabé Menéndez, who were just a few tenths away from bronze, as was the pair formed by the children Sara Rovira and Paula García. Gandoy was the Asturian club with the most medals within a very outstanding regional performance, since as a territorial team it was crowned national champion.
Alejandro and Marcos, like Paul and Naroa, despite their young age, are already used to participating in top-level competitions. All four recently took part in the European Championships in Bosnia and all came close to winning medals.
Marcos is 16 years old and has been in judo for 13 years. “I do kata because I like it more than combat,” he admits. He is in a couple with Alejandro. “Together we won a Spanish Cup a couple of months ago in Madrid,” he says. Like several of his classmates, he studies at the Jovellanos institute, where he is studying Social Baccalaureate. Alejandro is 18 years old and is a student at Inmaculada: “I have been doing kata with Marcos for three years and doing judo for ten.” Alejandro is from Valladolid, but has been in Gijón for some time now. “I started at school in Valladolid and since I came to Gijón I have been with Gandoy because he was the one recommended to me and I am very happy here,” he continues. In October there is a European Cup, but the couple does not know if they will attend. In their case they beat eight other couples.
Naroa is 14 years old and is also a student at Jovellanos. “I’ve been doing kata with Paul for about a year and, like Marcos and Alejandro, we were recently in the European Championship and we also came third in a Spanish Cup,” she says. Last weekend they finished second in a category in which they had 25 rival couples. In the case of Naroa and Paul, they are about to change category, which forces them to “learn new things,” they say. Paul is 16 years old and is studying Technological Baccalaureate at the Dominicas. “I’ve been doing judo for 12 years and with Naroa for one year.”
The last pair to win a medal was Marina Canteli and Andrea García, who is absent for personal reasons these days. Marina is the youngest, only 12 years old, and explains that she has been “doing kata with Andrea for two years.” Together they finished third in the Asturias Championship, a position they repeated in the Spanish Championship. Like Marcos and Naroa, she is a student at Jovellanos.
They all highlighted the work and importance of their coach, José Antonio Gandoy, in their constant improvement and in the medals won in this championship. The future of Asturian judo seems assured. The new generations are coming on strong.
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2024-07-04 03:39:42
#Gandoy #judo #gymnasiums #quarry #aims #high
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