Judo sensation Keightley Watson wins gold in Holland

DECKED: Teenage Whanganui judo prodigy Keightley Watson decks an opponent on his way to gold at the Matsuru Dutch Open Espoir in Holland on Sunday morning New Zealand time.

Four weeks intensive of training in the Netherlands has paid handsome dividends for 16-year-old Whanganui judoka Keightley Watson.

Watson won gold in the plus 90kg under-18 division at the Matsuru Dutch Open Espoir in Holland on Sunday morning New Zealand time.

The large tournament had a total of 1850 judokas 21 years and under competing over two days on 12 mats in various weight categories with 21 countries competing.

His Dutch coach told Watson's parents Ross and Barbara back in Whanganui: "Keightley did good strong judo throughout his fights."

"Keightley weighed in on Saturday 13kgs lighter than when he left New Zealand," Ross Watson told the Chronicle on Tuesday.

"That gives you an idea of the amount of training that he is undertaking each day during is time in Holland. His training consists of weights and fitness in the morning and two sessions helping the junior classes and two sessions of senior judo in the evening each day.

"That's the same routine he did at the Olympic Training centre in Budapest when he was there earlier in the year training. The real difference in Holland is that he lives on-site at the gym by himself and takes care of his own cooking and washing."

Each of these competitions is just another stepping stone for the young judoka and he knows he has a long and lonely road ahead to fullfill his ambitions in the sport.

In addition to his success over the weekend, Watson also received confirmation last week that he has been selected to represent New Zealand again at this year's Oceania Judo Union 2018 competition in New Caledonia in April fighting in both the cadets and junior men's category where he will try and defend his plus 100kg junior men's title.

Mr Iain Hyndman
Wanganui Chronicle 17/1/18