The tournament went pretty well. The guy went the distance in both of his official matches, then he did an exhibition. I don’t feel bad for the kids who lose, but I do feel bad for the kids who get thrown on their backs in the first five seconds.
He got to try his stuff! It sometimes worked. He lost his first match to a very aggressive Korean girl who pinned him for ten seconds (a half point). That went unanswered.
He won his other match by throwing really early with kouchi gari (it was smooth!), then fighting off pins for what felt like forever. It must have been exhausting. At one point, they were standing back up, and he did throw with osotogari, but his opponent landed sitting.
Overall, he’s great at finding opportunities for throws, but he’s not finishing them strongly, which gives opponents a chance to land how they’d prefer to land. He’s also hesitant on the ground and always ends up defending.
Anyway, good job everybody!