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Karina Bryant added a
second gold medal to Great Britain’s medal tally over the weekend
at the 2011 Miami World Cup and sealed her first result since
coming back from a neck injury.
The four-strong British
women’s team returned with two gold medals, the first won by Sarah
Clark, and one bronze medal, earned by +78kg fighter Sarah Adlington.
With a bye in the first
round and a swift ippon win in the second against Larisa Ceric
(BIH), Bryant faced Huanyuan Liu of China, currently ranked World
no.8.
Liu, 2011 Paris Grand
Slam bronze medallist, lead the fight by two yuko points, but
Bryant kept the pressure on and won by ippon.
Progressing to the semi-final,
Bryant overcame Melissa Mojica of Puerto Rico with two waza-ari’s
and a yuko.
The final saw Bryant
face Maria Suelem Altheman of Brazil, who sits just above the
Brit on the World ranking list in 20th place. After picking up
a penalty point against her, Bryant pushed on for an ippon win
in under a minute.
Returning home, Bryant
said, “I am really pleased with the result; it was a much harder
competition than I thought it was going to be. There were a lot
of top players there so it was quite daunting, but I got stuck
in there and it was a good test for me.
“I used this event to
see where I am at with my injury and I feel I am ready to take
the next step in my rehabilitation programme.
“It has been hard for
the last 6 month doing rehab and it’s frustrating not being able
to go to all the camps and competitions, but I have to take it
step by step and keep on top of it now.”
Elsewhere in the +78kg
weight category, Sarah Adlington had a bye in the first round
and beat Polina Belousova of Russia in the second.
The third round saw
a loss for the Brit against World ranked no.10 Song Yu of China.
In the repechage Adlington
beat current Baku Grand Prix Champion, Tea Donguzashvili of Russia,
who is currently ranked 16 places higher on the IJF World Ranking
List. Adlington put the Russian under pressure throughout the
fight, resulting in Donguzashvili gaining four penalty points
and being disqualified.
A close final followed
against Melissa Mojica of Puerto Rico. The Brit was the first
to score and after the fight went to full time, Adlington’s yuko
point earned her the bronze medal.
High Performance Coach
Billy Cusack from Judo Scotland’s National Training Centre in
Ratho, Edinburgh, a recognised British Judo Performance Centre
where Adlington and Clark train said,"It was really nice
to see Sarah back on form, winning each fight by ippon. It was
a great performance.
"It was also good
to see Sarah Adlington on the medal rostrum, showing progression
from the Madrid World Cup and her 5th place at the Lisbon World
Cup, beating top players like Donguzashvili.
"The work they
are doing in training is starting to pay off and these are encouraging
results ahead of the World Championships and the 2012 Olympic
Games."
Commenting on the team’s
performance, British Judo Head Coach Patrick Roux said, “It
is our core strategy to have 10-12 GB players connected to this
standard before the preparations for the 2012 Olympics begin and
we have 11 players who have won medals at Olympic qualification
events this season, so it is really good to see we are meeting
the standard to reach our goals in 2012.
“I am really pleased
to see Sarah Clark and Karina Bryant coming back close to their
best results after overcoming injuries, which is never an easy
task. With experienced players coming back and young players like
Sarah Adlington also delivering medals at this level, it is a
very good sign for the World Championships and Olympic Games to
see young and experienced coming together.”
Read the
report from the first day of competition
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