Great performance from the Judokwai juniors at the 2026 New Zealand National Judo Championships.
Erik Kim and Ali Galymzhan both won gold in their divisions, both scoring ippon with their techniques on the way to the finals, with Ali also taking out the silver in a close final for the under 15 open weight category.
Robin Zachinsky, Kaya Valdez, and Vega Luo all took silver in their respective weight categories. Kaya was a particular standout throwing with o-goshi, sasae tsuri komi ashi, and ippon seoi-nage.
Shiloh Valdez missed out in a fight for bronze, but produced one of the throws of the morning in his previous fight with a huge o-goshi for ippon.
Tylor Kimura fought with spirit and deserves credit for having a crack at his first nationals. Similarly, Daniel An had a bit of a baptism of fire fighting -66kg in his first experience of under -15 years competition, fighting older and more experienced opponents but handled it with stoicism and maturity.
