| British
Judo's Olympic Squad competed on home soil for the first time at
the Senior British Closed Championships on Sunday at EIS Sheffield.
The highly-anticipated spectacle produced
an absorbing day of judo as youngsters prospered and reputations
were enhanced.
In the -48kg category,
Hayley Willis, 16, who captured the junior title on Saturday,
stunned the talented field as she added the senior title to her
ever-growing medal collection.
The Junior World bronze
medallist, a member of the 27-strong Olympic Squad, is one of
the most exciting judoka in the sport and has already started
to make a name for herself on the senior stage.
Olympic Test event bronze
medallist and Athens Olympian Sophie Cox topped the -52kg category
while Connie Ramsey battled her way to -57kg gold.
Beijing Olympian and
former European silver medallist Sarah Clark won the -63kg title
as Sally Conway took the -70kg crown.
Welsh Judo’s Natalie
Powell took the -78kg title as Sarah Adlington claimed +78kg gold.
Lesley Reid, 49, remarkably
claimed +78kg bronze, repeating her 1987 result having left the
British Visually Impaired Team due to new sight classification
criteria introduced in 2011.
Welsh Judo’s Brandon
Dodge stunned the -60kg field as he emerged from the talent-laden
category to take gold as James Millar took silver and 2010 European
u23 Champion Ashley McKenzie claimed bronze.
European bronze medallist
Colin Oates claimed the -66kg title while Jan Gosiewski impressed
by winning the -73kg gold.
Euan Burton throws for ippon in the -90kg category
Tom Reed won -81kg gold
as Masters bronze medallist Euan Burton took the -90kg title.
Beijing Olympian Peter
Cousins underlined his credentials as he grinded out victory in
the -100kg category.
Matthew Clempner claimed
the +100kg crown.
British Judo Performance
Director Daniel Lascau said: “I’ve seen some very good judo and
I’m happy because some of the Olympic Squad confirmed their places
while others now know they need to work even harder.
"The question I
asked the players today was not how many contests they won but
how many they won by ippon because that’s very important.
"I’m very pleased
with Hayley Willis because she confirmed her ability at this level
after winning the junior title on Saturday and she’s a very good
judoka.”
British
Closed Olympic Squad Delegation
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