Rio De Janeiro, Brazil - Hannah Martin (25) made her debut at the 2013 World Championships in Rio De Janeiro today in 63kg placing ninth. Martin from the Jason Morris Judo Center (JMJC) beautifully executed an arm bar at the one minute mark in her opening bout to secure her first win against Helene Wezeu-Dombeu from Cameroon. Martin then moved on to fight against Brigitte Carabali from Colombia throwing her in the first minute with osoto for waza-ari (half point) and then finishing the Colombian off with a pin for Ippon (Full point). In her third match (round of 16) Martin had an epic battle against 2011 & 2007 World Champion, 2005 World Silver Medalist and 2012 Olympic Bronze Medalist Gevrise Emane from France. The match was a back and forth affair with the score being tied with a minute remaining. Martin appeared stronger of the two but questionably picked up her third shido (penalty) losing 3-2. Emane moved on to eventually win a bronze medal. Martin earned 108 points on the World Ranking list for making it into the round of 16. This result catapulted her from #18 to a career high #13 with 656 points. "This was an amazing first time experience. It's a great feeling to be neck and neck with the best girls in the world." sated Martin. Her ninth place was the best finish for a JMJC athlete in its 12 year history. Hannah will now have a couple days of rest to recharge then compete in the World Team championships, as she will join US members, Angelica Delgado, 2013 World Silver Medalist, Marti Malloy, Katie Sell and Sam Blier on Sunday September 1st. "I am extremely proud of all the JMJC athletes that competed in Rio as they all represented Team USA very well." said Coach Jason Morris " They further proved that they belong on this stage and have promising road ahead which hopefully leads right back to Rio for the 2016 Olympic Games."
ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia — Burnt Hills graduate and 2016 Olympic hopeful Hannah Martin, 24, captured a bronze medal at the Mongolian Judo Grand Prix in the 63 kilogram weight class Saturday.
Martin, who represents the Jason Morris Judo Center in Glenville, defeated Saranzul Amgalan (Mongolia) before dropping a tight battle in the semifinals to Jeyoung You (Korea). Martin then went on to beat three-time Asian Championship bronze medalist Battugs Tumen-Od to claim the first Grand Prix medal of her career.
The result catapulted Martin from No. 20 to a career high No. 14 on the world ranking list.
"Hannah's unwavering commitment to her training is paying off big time," coach Jason Morris said. "Her willingness to improve her judo even though she has had multiple successes has also been a large factor on her run to number 14."
San Salvador, El Salvador - Burnt Hills High School Graduates, Hannah Martin (24) and Kyle Vashkulat (22) won bronze medals in their respective divisions representing the Glenville, NY based Jason Morris Judo Center (JMJC) at the San Salvador World Judo Cup June 22-23, 2013. This was Martin and Vashkulat's third career medal at this event. Martin posted a 3-1 record on the day suffering her only loss in a tight semi final battle with long time US nemesis in 63kg, Janine Nakao (26). 2012 Olympian, Vashkulat was competing in only his second major International event since the Olympics in London went 4-1 in 100kg including a big win over Italo Cordova (Chili) who had beaten Kyle in their two previous bouts. Another Burnt Hills Graduate, Nick Kossor (27) maintained his #1 US ranking along with his #36 world ranking by taking 5th place in 60kg. Kossor dominated his first two matches to make the semis where he dropped a heartbreaker to Francisco Garrigos (Spain) after leading most of the bout then lost it in the closing moments getting thrown. Kossor then lost an exciting battle with long time North American rival Sergio Pessoa (Canada) in the bronze medal bout. Youngster, Alex Turner (20) turned his best performance to date taking seventh place in a deep 73kg weight class. Turner made it all the way to the quarter finals in his first World Cup where he was beaten by #4 in the world, Dirk Van Tichelt (Belgium). Brad Bolen (24) took seventh at 66kg to move up one spot on the world ranking list to #30. Tony Sangimino (22) also placed seventh at 81kg. Brice Rudat (25) picked up his first ever International win at 90kg knocking off Jesus Alfaro (El Salvador) before losing to Mark Anthony (Australia). Cammi Kaichi dropped her first bout at 52kg to Hadhelhayd Quitero (Venezuela) and Maria Dhami lost her first match to Kelly Edwards (Great Britain) to close out the JMJC participation in the event. Bolen, Kossor & Martin Officially qualified for the US team that will compete at World Championship August 26-30, 2013 in Rio, Brazil. This will be Bolen and Kossor's third straight trip to the Worlds and it will be Martin's first. This marks the 6th straight time a JMJC athlete has made the world team and the latest trio makes 19 overall athletes from the JMJC to make the team.
Toronto, Ontario - Hannah Martin (NYAC/JMJC) led the way for athletes from the US winning her first 63kg Ontario Open title and her 6th overall career medal. This was on the eve of Martin leaving for Tyumen, Russia where she will compete May 24 in the prestigious World Judo Masters which invite only the top 16 in each weight class in this "best of the best" event. Martin looked sharp going 3-0 including a devastating throw in finals against Nicole Jenecik (Canada). JMJC's Alex Turner (19) continued to improve as he was a double bronze medalist picking them up in the 17-20yrs. 73kg division and the 73kg senior category, his first medals of any kind at this event. Cammi Kaichi (25) won her first medal at the Ontario Open picking up a bronze in the 52kg weight class. Dave Harris (27) also medaled here for the first time winning a bronze in the 66kg division posting a 4-1 record. Joe Martinez won a silver (his first) in the 17-20yrs. 66kg division and Burnt Hills High Senior, Jack Hatton won a bronze (his third) in the 17-20yrs. category and added a 5th place finish in the senior 81kg division. Newcomer Haley Meara (17) won a bronze in the 15-18yrs. 48kg weight class to close out the JMJC medal count. Brice Rudat (23) placed 5th at 100kg and Ashley Hejlik (26) also preformed well placing 7th in 52kg. The JMJC has now won an impressive 78 total medals at the Ontario Open since winning it's first in 2000.
Photo R to L: Hannah Martin, Dave Harris, Jack Hatton, Cammi Kaichi, Alex Turner and Joe Martinez
Burnt Hills graduate, Hannah Martin (24) made the cut and was invited to compete in the prestigious, fourth annual World Judo Masters event May 24-25 in Tyumen, Russia. Martin who trains at the Glenville, NY based Jason Morris Judo Center (JMJC) has become the first woman from the JMJC to reach the World Masters which invites only the top 16 athletes in the world in each weight class. Burnt Hills graduate, Nick Delpopolo (24) was the first JMJC male athlete to make this event as he competed in 2012. There will be 220 participants from 45 countries in this "best of the best" type of event with the competition being held at the Palace of Sport in Tyumen. Total prize money for the World Judo Masters is $200,000 with $6000 going to the gold medalist, $4000 for silver and $2000 for bronze. Martin who competes in 63kg has moved up over 90 spots on the International Judo Federation's (IJF) World Ranking List (WRL) in last two years and currently sits at #16 with 496 points. "This has been one of my goals since I moved up to 63kg a couple of years ago" Martin said. "The World Masters has been a fantastic addition to the IJF world tour" said Martin's coach and 4x Olympian, Jason Morris. "We are very proud of Hannah making it to this event as it's a terrific step forward in her career," Morris continued. Martin who is also currently #1 ranked in the US has continued to rack up results in 2013 with taking a Silver medal in the Uruguay World Cup, Bronze in the Argentina World Cup, picking up her second straight US National title and just returned from the her first Pan Am Championships claiming a bronze and then added a Gold in the team event where she went 3-0 helping the USA woman in capturing their first ever team title. Martin has had a great start in this quad as she has high hopes of making the 2016 Olympic team that will be in Rio, Brazil.