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Britain’s recent European
medallist, Colin Oates, will compete in the 2011 Baku Grand Prix
along with Ashley McKenzie and Gemma Howell.
On a high from winning
a bronze medal at the European Championships just last week, a
career-best for the 27-year-old, Oates will take to the mat in
the -66kg weight category.
Oates reached 5th place
at the 2010 Moscow Grand Prix and will be looking to consolidate
his European medal.
GB’s U23 European Champion,
Ashley McKenzie, has continued to perform and in February won
his first World Cup medal at the 2011 Warsaw World Cup, where
he took a second -60kg title.
Youngster, Gemma Howell,
continues to gain experience on the World Circuit. Howell took
a silver medal at the 2010 Korean World Cup and a 5th place at
the 2010 Tokyo Grand Slam at the end of last year.
The International Judo
Federation World Circuit features four Grand Slams (Paris, Moscow,
Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo), five Grand Prix (Dusseldorf, Baku,
Abu Dhabi, Rotterdam and Qingdao) and 17 World Cups.
Up to 200 ranking points
are up for grabs at the event, which was originally organised
to take place in Tunis, but will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan from
the 6th-8th May 2011.
As well as points to
gain, it’s the experience of the World Circuit s and its tough
repechage system that will be just as important to the three Brits,
as they focus on their individual programmes from the British
Judo Performance Team.
Flying out to Baku on Wednesday,
Britain’s fighters will compete on the first day of competition,
Friday 6th May.
©
Mike Varey
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