The Sport

British players made it to four bronze medal finals at the 2008 European Championships, but missed out on a medal on every occasion leaving the team with four 5th places in the -52kg, -63kg, +78kg, -100kg weight categories.

The Championships marked the end of a long 12 month qualification campaign that will no doubt have been particularly tough for those who have entered every tournament in pursuit of Olympic qualification spots.

On day one, it was always going to be a challenge for 22-year-old Faith Pitman (-57kg), knowing that she had to reach the medal rostrum to qualify the spot for the Games. She drew Gravensteijn of the Netherlands for her first fight. The two know each other well, even training with each other in the past. The fight started cautiously, with Pitman receiving a penalty score early on. Nothing more materialised in the fight until Gravensteijn caught Faith for waza- ari score in the last 30 seconds of the fight. Her opponent then lost her next fight, knocking Pitman out of the event, and with no chance of qualifying the British spot for the Games.

Georgina Singleton (-52kg) came in to the competition knowing only a gold medal would qualify the spot for Beijing. The head maths teacher, who made the decision to stop work and train full time 12 months ago, with the sole aim of Beijing, won her first two fights against Samat of Tukey and Cabaj of Poland, the later by the maximum ippon score. In the quarter final Singleton was in control of the match against La Rizza of France, throwing her comfortably for two yuko scores. But shockingly the Brit was caught on the ground as La Rizza fell in to a hold during a transition exchange. Although Singleton was straight into the repechage her Olympic dream was over and now she had to lift herself to win a medal as a consolation.

Her first fight of the repechage was against an old adversary Cuomo of Italy. The Italian had a very negative, defensive style and could not cope with Singleton’s high attack rate, receiving a shido for passivity securing Singleton the win. In the repechage final against Gunberg of Finland, George showed her class again, controlling the fight and winning with a waza-ari score on the board.

In the bronze medal fight Singleton faced Dinea of Romania, both had been battling for Olympic qualification all year however neither of the competitors would do so. They have fought many times and know each other well. Singleton scored early on, but Dinea took advantage of a high attack to throw the Brit for ippon, leaving her with 5 th place.

Former World Champion Craig Fallon (-60kg) faced Jokinen of Finland in his first fight and dealt with him comfortably, throwing him for both a koka and a waza-ari to win the fight. In the next fight Fallon was not as comfortable and his Czech opponent Petrickov went a yuko score up. Although Craig applied the pressure to get a score back it was not enough win him the fight, or allow him to progress any further in the event. Luckily the -60kg spot for Beijing was already mathematically qualified with two Brits sitting in the top 9 places.

In a close first fight against Berthelot of France Colin Oates (-66kg) incurred two penalties, which cost him the fight. He was pulled back through to the repechage and met Mitterfellner of Austria. Within a matter of seconds the fight was over, with Oates throwing his opponent for ippon, taking him a step closer to the result he needed to qualify a Beijing spot. Unfortunately the journey was stopped in the next round by Gadanov of RUS.

On day two Sally Conway’s (-70kg) first fight was drawn against Sraka of Slovenia. The fight started off cautiously with neither fighter taking a clear advantage, but Strake caught Conway on the grip, finishing the fight and her Beijing hopes.

Former European Champion Sarah Clark (-63kg) had a bye in the first round of the tournament, but met Yusubova of Azerbaijan in the second round, which she finished off with a smooth transition into groundwork to force a submission with an armlock. This put her through to fight against the explosive Boukovalva of Greece. Sarah had to be cautious, but again comfortably finished off her opponent. This moved her to the semi final against long time adversary Decosse of France. Without much time to get into the fight, Decosse caught Sarah with her signature attack for the maximum ippon score, pushing her into the bronze medal fight against Schlesinger of Israel. The Israeli, who needed the Bronze to qualify for Beijing, put pressure on Clark right from the start and finally threw her for a waza-ari score in the closing moments of the fight, leaving Sarah with a 5 th place.

World bronze medallist Euan Burton (-81kg) faced Barkouski of Belarus in the first round. He was issued a shido for evasive gripping early on in the fight and later got a second shido for passivity. Euan really fired up in the last 40 seconds but it was too late to get the score back, taking him out of the competition.

Matt Purssey (-73kg) overwhelmed Tavatyan of Armenia in the first round with a brilliant transition into ground work securing strangle on his opponent. His second fight against the eventual European Champion was extremely close and only an early shido for passivity separated them. In the first fight of the repechage Purssey came back from being a yuko and koka down, to throw the Lithuanian for a waza-ari score before moving straight in to hold to finish the fight. This took Purssey through to meet the Belarusian opponent, and the fight was extremely close but unfortunately the Brit couldn’t win the match and was taken out the competition.

Sarah Adlington, in the +78kg weight category, was a late addition to the British team following the withdrawal of Karina Bryant due to injury. Adlington lost to Mondiere of France in the first round despite holding her own for the majority of the fight. Mondiere made it to the final, bringing Adlington back to the repechage, which she took advantage of by finishing Prokotyeva of the Ukraine quickly with a throw straight into a hold.

In the repechage final Adlington met the experienced Buzhilova of Bulgaria. Although going down a wazari early due to a counter throw, she maintained her strong gripping pattern and high attacking intensity. It paid off and she managed to claw back finally throwing her competitor for ippon, securing her position in the bronze medal fight. There she met Konitz of Germany, and although she applied pressure to her opponent it was unfortunately not with the same success, leaving the Brit just outside the medals in 5 th place.

Winston Gordon (-90kg) came in the Championships sitting 8 th in the qualification rankings (top 9 finish for men is required to qualify the Beijing spot for Britain). He was also aware that the Portuguese, Latvian and Lithuanian competitors were close on his heels and looking to snatch the spot from underneath him.

In his first fight against the extremely experienced former Olympic champion Huizinger of the Netherlands, Winston looked in control, forcing a passivity penalty score against Huizinger. Unfortunately Huizinger responded with a superb attack that Winston could not overstep.

Huizinger pulled Winston back in to the repechage where he beat Hein of Germany. This put him directly against Silva of Portgual, however at this point it was calculated that Winston had qualified the -90kg British spot for Beijing, regardless of any subsequent result. This was fortunate as the referees were not able to cope with the pressure of the home crowd. A fight which saw all three referees called off the mat three times to look at video footage (something new for this European Championships). Winston was caught for waza-ari score early on but immediately responded with a throw, which was not scored for at least a minute after. He continued to apply the pressure, scoring a further yuko and eventually forcing a penalty score against Silva, but this was not enough to win the fight.

This was the first opportunity for Peter Cousins (-100kg) to fight in 2008, after being plagued with injury since his World silver medal success in Rio. It did not take long for Peter to show that he was back to form finishing off Verjan of Slovenia comfortably, looking by far the more physical of the two players. In the second round he showed the same dominance forcing three penalty scores against Pacek of Sweeden, securing a place in the quarter final against Humbert of France. Unfortunately in a fight where both opponent received penalties, Peter lost and took his place in the repechage.

His first fight against Zhorzholiani of Georgia was one he has had many times before. Although he went down by a penalty score for a two handed grip, Peter finished him off in just over a minute with a very big throw for the maximum ippon score. The repechage final against the Lithuanian opponent went to golden score, but Peter secured the win. Peter faced Behria of Germany for the bronze where both fighters incurred penalties for evasive gripping. The German responded catching Peter for a waza-ari, and although Cousins applied the pressure, forcing a further two penalties, the German won the match leaving Peter with 5th place .

Commenting Head of Delegation and World Class Operations Manager, Karen Roberts said, ‘Although it is bitterly disappointing not to get medals at this event, four 5 th places show how close we are to the Podium finish. We now know that we have 7 categories qualified for Beijing and we will focus on the best preparation for the players that are selected.

‘It has been a long qualification path and it has clearly taken its toll. The players know what they have to do for the Games now, and I have no doubt they will step up to the challenge’

British Judo will announce the team for the 2008 Olympic Games at a press conference in London on the 22 nd April. Media should contact Emma Griffin on 07875 368495 or emmagriffin@britishjudo.org.uk for further details.