Everything We Know About The CJI Australia/Asia Trials So Far
Everything We Know About The CJI Australia/Asia Trials So Far
Get up to date on everything going on with the CJI Australia/Asian Trials, being run by Lachlan Giles to fill their regional team for CJI 2
With CJI 2 approaching fast, we are finding out more details by the week on who will be on which teams and what fans should expect. We got a lot of big information recently about the team selection process for the Australian/Asian team and there's a lot for fans to get excited about.
Craig Jones has appointed Lachlan Giles as the coach for the squad, a logical pick given their past and Lachlan's standing in the community. The 2019 ADCC medalist gave Craig his black belt and is well respected in the grappling community as a thoughtful and reasonable source of information. The team is his to pick as he sees fit, with spots already reserved at -77kg and -88kg for CJI 1 participants Levi Jones-Leary and Lucas Kanard.
Giles has opted for a trials system to pick his teams for the -99kg and +99kg spots and a wildcard pick to fill the spot at -66kg. The wildcard is an option teams have where they can fill one spot on their roster with someone who doesn't fit the traditional rules of the team - meaning teams can bring in a non-teammate and regional teams can bring in someone from another part of the world.
The Trials are going to produce some really great action, with the big names for the scene all wanting to participate. There will be a six man round robin where you earn points for submitting the opposition (and face losing points if you are submitted). Because of the depth of the divisions, both -99kg and +99kg will be in the same round robin and the determinations on who fills each spot will be made after the results are in.
Five of those six men are already hand selected by Giles himself, based on both styles and credentials. They are;
- Declan Moody, ADCC trials winner & #13 ranked at 220lbs
- Roberto Bob-Frias, ADCC trials winner
- Alibi Orazbek
- Kaya Rudolph
- Belal Etaibari
That sixth spot will be filled by the winner of a sixteen man tournament, being held open for those in the region to prove themselves. That means they will have to go through a sixteen man bracket, winning four matches, just to get to the round robin qualifier. If someone can do that, I'd say circle them for a potential breakout at CJI. The men who are entered for the eliminator bracket are:
- Josh Shipton
- Tito Carley
- Thomas David
- Harry Grech
- Anton Minenko
- Josh Allsop
- Duke Didier
- Urosh Culic
- Harry Caesar
- Alex Hungahunga
- Matthew Oxenham
- Adnan Larry
- Siraj Soufi
- Josh Schofield
- Burak Sarman
- Kenta Iwamoto
Kenta is by far the most credentialed athlete in the field, but he usually competes at -77kg and used to compete at -66kg. He's a three-time Trials winner who is taking his shot at making a CJI team by jumping way up in weight. I don't know if he will be the favorite but he will be a lot of fun to follow.
The Trials is expected to be contested under CJI rules in the pit, and everything will be going down May 10th (so as not to interfere with Mother's Day on May 11th).
CJI 2 Oceanic Team
-66kg: Wildcard spot
-77kg: Levi Jones-Leary
-88kg: Lucas Kanard
-99kg: Trials Winner
+99kg: Trials Winner
Coach: Lachlan Giles
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