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Warrenpoint judo club Shinken Shobu Ryu has won five medals over two weekends at the Irish and British Veterans Championships. Paul McConville became national Veterans champion for 2026 with gold in Paisley on Saturday 31 October. His club mate Martin Fearon won a silver and a bronze at the Irish Veterans (Masters) Open in Dublin a week earlier.
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McConville, a 6th Dan, competed in the U81kg category at the British Veterans Championship, which was hosted by Clyde Judo Club in Paisley, Scotland. He was one of six players in the category, who were divided into two pools. The club said the standard was very high this year. McConville had four hard matches, all of which went the full distance, and he won the final to take the gold medal.
The week before, on 24 October, McConville and Fearon were competing at the Irish Veterans (Masters) Open in Corduff Sports Centre, Dublin.
McConville won silver in the U81kg category, losing the final to the current European champion. He also entered the Open division, where players compete against senior judoka regardless of grade and weight category. He reached the final after beating a five time British Open champion in the semi-finals, and took a second silver medal after a hard fought match.
Fearon, a 2nd Kyu, competed in the M5 and Kyu grade open categories. In his weight category he won all of his qualifying matches to reach the final, where he faced a senior Dan (black belt) grade player and won silver. In the Kyu open division, he lost one of his fights to what the club described as a controversial refereeing decision, but came through the repechage to win a bronze medal.
