On Saturday, October 27th, 93 judo competitors from across Manitoba and Saskatchewan fought in the 2017 Brandon Open Judo shiai, held in Shilo, MB. The tournament took place on World Judo Day.

Members of the Brandon Judokan judo club (https://brandonjudokan.org/) competed in various categories:

• Jonathan Kroeker competed in the U10 -29/-32kg division
• Bart Kalinin competed in the U12 -33kg division
• Curtis Ratzlaff placed 3rd in the U12 -36kg division
• Cole Newing placed 1st in the U12 -36kg division
• Marita Kroeker placed 2nd in the U14 Female -40/-48kg divison
• Jingyuan Zhou placed 1st in the U14 Female -48/-57kg division
• Maya Fines placed 3rd in the U16/U18 Female -70/+70kg division
• Aedan Dyck placed 2nd in the U16 Male -66/-73kg division
• Colin Kennedy placed 3rd in the U18 Male -50/-55/-60kg division
• Melody Kroeker placed 2nd in the U21 Female -57/-63kg division
• Jeff Parrott placed 3rd in the Senior Male Novice -81/-90kg division
• Neal Hackler placed 2nd in the Masters Open division
• Jeff Parrott placed 3rd in the Masters Open division

Airton Nakamura of Nakamura Judo Club received the 2017 Silvio Sboto Memorial Award for Excellence in Coaching.

Clay Hutchison, one-time sensei at Brandon, was inducted into the Judo Manitoba Hall of Fame in the Builder category.

Congratulations to all the athletes, and thanks to all the volunteers and referees who made our tournament a success.