Thirteen fighters from Open Mat Bermuda are in Kissimmee, Florida, for the Pan International Jiu-Jitsu Championship.

Coach Chris Regan is pleased with the amount of work that has been put in by his fighters ahead of the event organised by the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation, which starts today.

“We’ve trained extremely hard and applied ourselves accordingly,’’ Regan said.

“The team began preparations for this competition back in January, training at least four times a week.”

Eight of the fighters are in action on the opening day.

Ryan Hopkins (male adult belt, middleweight), Noah Vieira (male adult purple, lightweight), Sydney Mason (female adult blue belt, middle heavyweight), Georgie Martin (master one white belt, middle heavyweight), Mike Walsh (master four white belt, ultra middleweight), Jahmali Bridgewater (adult white belt, heavyweight), and Natalie Angeli (master three white belt, middleweight), have an early chance to earn medals at what is widely considered the most important and prestigious jiu-jitsu tournament of the year.

“We’ve put together a large team this year to represent the island and our academy,” the coach said.

“Our competitors range from those competing for the first time and those who have a wealth of competition experience.

“Training from January presented a great opportunity for the team to work together in order to prepare ourselves to the best of our combined abilities.

I am expecting everyone to do their best, and give it their all. This is the standard we train for at the very least.

“We’ve had some great success in previous years at this competition with multiple medal-winners, and I’m certain we have what it takes to produce similar results.”