Skelley, Powell and Molloy medal in Portugal
On the final day of the IBSA Portugal Grand Prix, Paralympic Champion Chris Skelley won gold in the J2 +90kg category, whilst there were bronze medals for Daniel Powell and Evan Molloy in the J1 and J2 -90kg categories respectively.
Chris Skelley (Haltemprice; Ian Johns) won gold in the J2 +90kg category with victories against Yerian Konkiyev (KAZ) and Sergio Junior (BRA). Konkiyev was awarded three penalty shidos in the opening contest whilst, in his second contest, Skelley recovered from having what appeared to be a winning score in the opening 19-seconds removed to throw Junior for ippon score and secure the gold medal.
World Championships silver medallist Daniel Powell was in action in the J1 -90kg category. Powell had an opening-round bye before defeating Yasin Cimciler (TUR) in the quarter-final by forcing his opponent to submit after applying a strangle.
In the semi-final Powell was defeated by world number one Arthur Cavalcante Da Silva (BRA), meaning he progressed to the bronze medal contest.
Powell secured bronze with victory against Gokhan Bicer (TUR) with a throw for ippon score.
In the J2 -90kg category, Evan Molloy (Devizes JC; Mark Burbridge) defeated Ricky Ties (USA) in his opening round contest by two waza-ari scores. Molloy suffered a quarter-final defeat to Marcelo Cassanova (BRA) by a single waza-ari score to progress to the repechage.
In the repechage contest, Molloy went a score down early on to Zhanbota Amanzhol (KAZ) before levelling the score. Amanzhol later went on to be disqualified for a head-dive, meaning Molloy progressed to the bronze medal contest.
Molloy secured bronze with victory against Paralympic silver medallist Ben Goodrich (USA) with a throw for waza-ari score before transitioning into newaza to secure an ippon score and place on the podium.
In the J2 +70kg category, Kirsten Taylor (Tayside JC; David Scobie) was defeated by 4th seed Meg Emmerich (BRA) in the quarter-finals meaning she progressed to the bronze medal contest. Taylor was defeated by Prescillia Leze (FRA) meaning she finished 5th.
On the opening day in the J1 -73kg category, Connah Anders (Hardy Spicer; Fitzroy Davies) was defeated by recent World Championship medallist and event number one seed, Yergali Shamey (KAZ) before he suffered a second defeat in his repechage contest.
Watch for further news from British Judo by checking out our latest news section. You can also catch up via our official social media platforms, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
