Aussie judo team arrive at University of Wolverhampton

Members of the Australian judo team have said g'day to Walsall after arriving in the town ahead of the Olympics.

The team mates are staying at the University of Wolverhampton's Walsall campus until next week, when they will head down to the Olympic village in London.

Six Olympic hopefuls have made the trip, along with four team coaches from Down Under, and will complete their final preparations in the Black Country.

It is hoped that the arrival of the Australian national team will help prompt more interest in judo in the town.

Dave Elmore, who is judo development officer at Wolverhampton University, said: "There has been a lot of planning involved but it's great to have finally got them here and using the facilities.

"It's really good for the university, for people from our judo club and other local clubs to see up close competitors who are going to be involved in the Olympics so they can learn from them.

"Hopefully it can raise the profile of judo in the Black Country with a view to encouraging more people to take part and we can see some of our competitors at future games."

Australian head coach Stewart Brain, said the competitors and entourage had been given a warm welcome.

"As coach you want to be able to come somewhere and not have to worry about any of the logistics and we haven't," he said. "It should be a great week."

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Hockey Team is currently preparing for its London 2012 Games at Cannock Hockey Club.

The highly-ranked side selected the Chase Park venue as its training base to fine tune preparations.

Members of the team, ranked eighth in the world, played a three-match series with England on Cannock's pitches in 2009.