GB Judo Preview: 17-18 February 2018
This weekend (Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 February) will see a number of GB judoka taking to the mat across Europe as the European judo tour rolls into Austria and Italy.
A number of judoka will be looking to get some valuable mat time under their belts at the start of 2018 with a busy Spring scheduled as well as those aiming to broaden their experience of senior international competition.
The European Opens in Oberwart and Rome will offer the GB athletes the perfect opportunity to test themselves against some quality judoka from across the globe.
Rome European Open, Italy
A five-strong female will be making the trip to Italy with medals in sight as the young squad take to the tatami. Spearheaded by U23 European Championships bronze medalist Kelly Staddon (-52kg), Chelsie Giles (-52kg) and Jemima Yeats-Brown (-70kg), each of the ladies will have eyes on the later stages of the competition.
Staddon is yet to make a mark at the three Grand Prix competitions entered so far, but has proved her ability at this level with several impressive medal wins throughout 2017.
Yeats-Brown made her second Grand Slam appearance of her short career last week, but came up against an inspired Seongyeon Kim from Korea in the opening round.
They will be joined on the mat by Emma Reid and Rachel Tytler at -78kg.
You can watch full coverage of the event at the European Judo Union’s YouTube feed from 0900 GMT.
Oberwart European Open, Austria
David Ferguson (-60kg) and Reece Calder (-90kg) are the sole representatives on the mat for GB in Austria.
Ferguson is just in the process of making the transition into senior level competition with his previous podium finish coming back in 2016 at the Asian Open, where he finished in bronze medal position.
Calder’s best result to date includes a bronze medal in the Belgrade European Open won in September of last year.
You can watch full coverage of the event at the European Judo Union’s YouTube feed from 0900 GMT.
Fuengirola European Cup, Spain
It is a strong squad of cadet judoka taking to the mat over the weekend in Spain with a total of 34 British athletes competing over two days.
A host of British Champions including the likes of Charlie Young (-55kg), Mae Bostock (-44kg), Sian Bobrowska (-48kg), Darcie Hancocks (-57kg) and Mollie Game (-63kg) will be testing their skills against a big entry at Fuengirola with over 470 athletes scheduled to compete.
