As we prepare to get underway at SECC on day two of the 2014 Commonwealth Games, we take a brief look at the competitors in each weight category.

Men’s +73kg

Pool A contains Gideon Van Zyl a reigning and three-time African Champion from South Africa. Kenya’s Isaac Kinyanjui competed at the 2013 World Championships and Papua New Guinea’s Kinsley Viu took fifth at the Oceanic Championships. The group also contains three home country athletes, England’s Jan Gosiewski, Northern Ireland’s Caoimhin Thompson and Scotland’s Patrick Dawson. The group is completed will Joseph Hell Bapou another 2013 World Championship Competitor.

Team Bath based Emmanuel Narty will represent Ghana and is a double African bronze medallist and finished fifth at the 2013 Rijeka Grand Prix. India are represented by National silver medallist Balvinder Singh and Edson Madeira, a fifth place finisher at the African Championships represents Mozambique. Mbarouk Sleiman Mbarouk is fighting for Tanzania and is joined in the group by Wales’ Curtis Dodge a British U20 Champion and New Zealand’s Adrian Leat a three-time Oceanic Championship medallist.

Pool C has Australia’s Jake Bensted who is national junior champion and Oceanic silver medallist and Sri Lanka’s Chamara Repiyallage. They are joined by Vanuatu’s Marceau Rouvoune, James Moshobo Ganzo of Kenya, Kyle Maxwell a losing quarter-finalist of the Pan American Championship from Barbados. Ashaan Nelson from Papua New Guinea is a fifth place finisher in the Oceanic Championship.

Pool D contains three-time Oceanic Champion, Australia’s Arnie Dickins, who also has Continental Open silver medals to his name. Three home nation athletes also fight in the group, including Connor Ireland of Wales who comes up against London 2012 Olympian, Englishman Danny Williams in their first contest. Eoin Fleming from Northern Ireland is a 19 year old athlete who took a bronze medal at the African Open in Port Louis. The Seychelles’ athlete Naddy Jeanne lost out in the last 16 at this year’s Paris Grand Slam. The final athlete in the group is Gervas Leonard Chilipweli from Tanzania.

Men’s +81kg

Pool A sees New Zealand’s Ivica Pavlinic the reigning Oceanic Champion and Wales athlete Craig Ewers who is also the coach of the national team. He’ll face Canadian youngster Jonah Burt who comes into the event as a Pan American Junior silver medallist. Two African athletes round out the pool including Abubakah Alhassan of Ghana and Cameroon’s Louis Messi.

Pool B has England’s Owen Livesey who won two silver medals in this year’s Pan American Opens, along with Kenya’s John Kirimi, 2012 Oceanic Champion Josateki Naulu of Fiji and London 2012 Olympian Boas Munyonga of Zambia.

Tom Reed of England, an IJF Grand Prix winner in Miami 2013 is in Pool C with Eric Jean Omgba Fouba of Cameroon, Vikender Singh of India, Kenya’s Joshua Omondi and European Cadet Cup bronze medallist Robert Nicola of Cyprus.

In Pool D, Mark Brewer of New Zealand the 2013 Oceania Champion, Leslie Philoe of the Seychelles who has competed on the IJF World Tour and at the 2013 World Championships. The final athletes in the group are Alfred Linguni of Malawi and Canada’s Louis Krieber-Gagnon who at the age of 18 is the reigning World Cadet Champion.

Women’s -63kg

Pool A sees 21 year old Australian Katharina Haecker, an Oceanic Champion and European Cup medallist, British Judo Center of Excellence athlete and 2011 Cadet European Champion Katie-Jemima Yeats-Brown representing England and Szandra Szogedi of Ghana who is an African Championship bronze medallist, World Championship and IJF World Tour competitor.

Veteran Scotland athlete Sarah Clark leads pool B as a former European Champion, London 2012 Olympian and most recently Pan American Open gold medallist. Bibiene Fopa competes for the Cameroon with fifth place finishes at the African Championships and National Champion Garima Choudhary represents India.

In Pool C is England’s Faith Pitman who took a gold medal at the 2013 Rijeka Grand Prix in Croatia. Canada’s Beatrice Valois-Fortier is Canada’s national champion and brother of Antoine beat Euan Burton at London 2012 and went on to win bronze. Representing Northern Ireland is Kirsty Kee former Northern Ireland Open winner.

Pool D has Cameroon’s Helene Wezeu Dombeu an African Championship bronze medallist and Marcon Bezzina of Malta who recently took silver at the Kent International.

Women’s -70kg

Scotland’s Sally Conway tops pool A and is the top ranked judoka at the games at fifth in the world as well as being a regular medallist on the IJF World Tour. Also in the pool is multiple Oceanic Championship medallist Sara Collins of Australia.

Pool B has England’s Megan Fletcher, a European Open and European Cup winner who represented GB at the 2014 European Championships. Fabiola Ndanga Nana of Cameroon competed at the 2014 Paris Grand Slam. 21 year old Alix Renaud-Roy of Canada is an Apia Open winner and Pan American Open medallist.

New Zealander Moira De-Villiers a six-time Oceanic Champion and Apia Open winner is in Pool C with 19 year old Junior European Cup silver medallist Monika Burgess of Canada.

Pool D sees three-time Oceanic Champion Catherine Arscott of Australia along with Tashkent Grand Prix bronze medallist Sunibala Huidrom of India and 17 year old Memory Zikhale of Botswana who took bronze at the African Cadet Championship.