Watson snares two medals

Keightley Watson, far left, with another medal at the Macau Asian Cup in China at the weekend.
Photo / Supplied.

Whanganui judoka Keightley Watson continued his consistent form on the second stop of his Asian excursion with two more medals at the Macau Asian Cup in mainland China at the weekend.

Having claimed two bronze medals at the Hong Kong Cup the previous weekend, Watson attended a three-day training camp in Macau ahead of his second tournament.

He then backed up on Saturday with another bronze in the +90kg weight division of Cadets (15-17 years).

The 17-year-old returned to the mat on Sunday to upgrade his medal tally with a silver in the +100kg division of Junior Men's (18-21 years).

Watson's haul of four medals over the two tournaments stood out amongst the eight-strong New Zealand team, who are coming home with nine medals overall.

Father Ross Watson said his son's success in Hong Kong lifted him four places up in the International Judo Federation (IJF) world rankings to 14th for his age grade.

"Macau should see him back up to No7 or No8 on the world ranking list in the Junior Men's, which will be important for competition seedings next year."

Watson is flying back to Whanganui on Tuesday and will have a quick turnaround to compete at the Auckland Open International this weekend, where he will compete in the in the Cadets, Junior Men's and Senior Men's divisions.

After that he will be flying back to the Netherlands for training and conditioning work under mentor Grim Vuijsters, the fourth dan black belt.

Ross Watson said with a busy calender for the remainder of the year, such as Sydney, the New Zealand nationals and possibly Perth, the European training should have his son peaking at the right time.

By Staff Reporter
Wanganui Chronicle 24/7/18