Bronze for Reid at Prague European Open
Emma Reid returned to medal winning ways, claiming bronze, as the Czech Republic played host to the Prague European Open this weekend.
Reid (-78kg) last competed on 15th February 2020, at the Bratislava European Open, where she won silver, but showed no signs of 12 months without competing as she overcame Anett Meszaros (HUN) in the bronze medal match to take her place on the podium.
Following an opening round bye, Reid was defeated in the Quarter-Final by Marlene Hunger (AUT), a single waza-ari score enough to separate the two fighters. Reid faced training partner and friend Shelley Ludford in the Repechage for a place in the bronze medal match.
As is traditionally is the case when fighters from the same nation compete against each other, the contest was a cagy affair with both fighters collecting penalty shidos. With the score at two shidos each, it was Ludford who unfortunately picked up the third shido, meaning she finished 7th, and handed victory and a place in the bronze medal match, to Reid.
Emma Reid (right) taking bronze at the Prague European Open 2021
On the opening day of competition, Josh Giles (-60kg), who was making his senior debut, narrowly missed out on a medal finishing 5th.
Giles dominated his Preliminary round matches, defeating Marton Andrasi (HUN) and Tibo Volleman (NED) to win his Pool.
Giles continued to dominate in his Semi-Final match against Samuel Waizenegger (SUI) and with the score level at two shidos each it was Giles who unfortunately was awarded a third, meaning he would fight for bronze against Andras Vida (HUN). In the bronze medal match Giles unfortunately amassed three penalty shidos, handing victory to Vida.
Elsewhere it was 7th place finishes for Harry Lovell-Hewitt and Oliver Barratt in the -100kg category. Both fighters won their opening round matches against Mateusz Bolimowski (POL) and Lars Vissers (NED) respectively before defeats in the Quarter-Final and Repechage.
In the -81kg category Lachlan Moorhead defeated Coen Van Winden (NED) and Sebastian Dengg (AUT) but was defeated by Jakub Pankowski (POL) in Round 3, a waza-ari score enough to see the Polish fighter progress and later finish 5th.
Scott Thomson (-66kg) defeated Freddy Waizenegger (SUI) in the opening round but was defeated by eventual gold medallist Lucian Bors Dumitrescu (ROU) in Round 2 by a single waza-ari score.
The next competition for the British Judo team is the Tashkent Grand Slam which starts on Friday 5th March. Stay tuned to the British Judo social media channels this week to see a preview of the competition.
