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As Rome, Italy hosted
the men’s version of the GB World Cup on Saturday 2 and Sunday
3 October it was Budokwai veteran Winston Gordon who emerged from
a youthful-looking British team to capture a bronze medal.
The seven-man squad featured
four fighters who were aged 21 and under while Andrew Burns, 25,
James Austin, 27, and 33-year-old Gordon were the senior members
of the squad. The team was supported by Performance Coach Tsuyoshi
‘Go’ Tsunoda.
Two-time Olympian Gordon
returned to the sport in August after a ten-month lay-off with
a knee injury, opened his campaign by overcoming Pole Krzysztof
Weglarz.
Aussie Mark Anthony was
Gordon’s next victim as the Londoner entered the final preliminary
round. The popular Brit lost out to Italian Roberto Meloni to
enter the repechage and bid for a bronze medal.
The former Ernest Bevin
pupil reeled off a victory over Frenchman Anthony Laignes before
seeing off Marvin Huisman of the Netherlands to claim the final
place on the rostrum in the under 90kg category.
Edinburgh-based James Austin
exited in the first round after falling to Brazil’s eventual silver
medallist Leonardo Leite. The Staffordshire-born under 100kg fighter
was penalised twice and was on the receiving end of a yuko score.
Andrew Burns, a member
of the acclaimed judo academy at Bath University, had a bye in
the first round of the under 90kg competition. Burns bowed out
after defeat to Argentina’s reigning South American Games Champion
Diego Rosati.
London prodigy Ashley McKenzie,
21, had a bye in the first round before triumphing over Italian
Vincenzo Camerlingo. The breakout Brit lost a quarter-final to
Brazilian Felipe Kitadai and entered the repechage. The 2010 British
Open winner fell to Latvian Andrejs Magers to finish in seventh-place.
Three British youngsters
looked to make an impact on the senior stage as the 19-year-old
trio of Joshua Butler, Owen Livesey and Lewis Keeble were included.
Butler, who trains at Camberley
Judo Club, competed in the under 100kg category where he was bested
by France’s 2010 National Champion Cyrille Maret.
SKK Judo Club teen Livesey
had a bye in the first round before losing out to IFJ Brazilian
World Cup gold medallist Bruno Mendonca of Brazil.
Cornwall’s Keeble, who
took bronze at the Junior European Championships in September,
exited after losing a first round match against Italian Ludovic
Coronese.
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