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Gemma Gibbons and Sarah
Adlington both won bronze medals on the second day of the Korean
World Cup, adding to Gemma Howell’s silver the day before.
With the Tokyo Grand
Slam being just a week away, the World Cup in Korea had attracted
some of the World’s finest, all out vying for those all important
ranking points.
After a first round
defeat over Polina Belousova of Russia by ippon, Adlington progressed
to the quarter final of the +78kg competition against Eun-Kyung
Kim of South Korea.
The South Korean was
no match for the 24-year-old, and after scoring a yuko early on
in the fight, Adlington finished the fight with another ippon
score for a place in the semi-final.
The semi-final saw a
close fight between the Brit and Song Yu of China. Adlington lost
the fight by a single yuko point and Yu went on to win the gold
medal.
Adlington then beat
Janelle Shepherd of Australia in the bronze medal final, by a
yuko and two waza-ari points, and took a well deserved bronze.
The medal adds to three
bronze medals earned this year at the GB, Orenburg and Sofia World
Cups.
Gibbons has also had
a successful year, and with a silver medal win at the GB World
Cup in October under her belt, Gibbons was one to watch on the
Korean stage.
The 23-year-old had
a bye in the first round of the -70kg weight category. She then
lost to Tomoe Ueno of Japan in the quarter final, but was brought
back into the competition through the repechage system.
Gibbons defeated Indah
Setiawati of Indonesia by ippon in the repechage and secured her
place in the bronze medal final.
The final saw the Brit
face Mi-Young Choi of South Korea. Gibbons fought hard and scored
a yuko and waza-ari to win the fight when the clock ran out, earning
her the bronze medal.
James Austin from Edinburgh
put in a good performance, reaching the quarter final of the -100kg
competition. It was a tough fight against 2010 Junior World Champion,
Ryunosuke Haga from Japan, and Austin eventually lost, despite
looking strong.
Austin then fought for
a third time, this time in the repechage, but was unable to progress
further and earned his 7th place.
Host nation South Korea
topped the medal table with an impressive seven gold, five silver
and ten bronze medals, followed by China, Romania and Japan. Great
Britain finished in 7th place overall.
The British delegation out in Korea, including
Gibbons, Adlington and Austin, are soon to be heading for Tokyo
to compete in the Grand Slam from the 11-13 December. But for
now, they are working hard at the high quality training camp hosted
by the Korean Judo Federation.
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