|
Three judoka were in
action for Great Britain on day two of the World Championships
as Sophie Cox (-52kg), Danny Williams (-73kg) and Gemma Howell
(-57kg) all took to the mat in Paris.
Howell received a bye
and started in the second round against world number eight Morgane
Ribout of France, the home judoka – who won the event in 2009
– having also received a bye.
As the vocal crowd spurred
on Ribout, Howell stunned the Frenchwoman with a hold-down victory
in the closing seconds of the contest for a hugely impressive
ippon.
The ever-intense competition
saw Howell issued with another stern challenge as she took on
world number nine Hedvig Karakas of Hungary. The Briton needed
just 25 seconds to record another spectacular triumph with a dropping
sode tsuri komi goshi leading to ippon against the former junior
world champion.
Gemma Howell scores a huge ippon against Hedvig Karakas
© Mike Varey
In the pool semi-final
Howell faced former Olympic, world and European champion Isabel
Fernandez of Spain.
Howell fell behind to
a waza-ari after 17 seconds and worked tenaciously to try and
get herself on the scoreboard as she forced the Spanish veteran
onto the back foot.
Despite a herculean
effort, Howell’s best attacks were resisted by Fernandez who had
been severely tested by the impressive young Briton.
Gemma Howell told the Press
Association: “My preparation for the competition had gone well
and I felt sharp. I really thought a medal was within my reach
today so that makes it all the more disappointing.
“I managed to get two penalties
against Isabel Fernandez but it was not enough. The coaches have
always said the bigger picture is the Olympics next year and if
I time it right there, then it does not matter what happens all
year. At the end of day, everything we are doing now is with the
Olympics at the back of our mind.”
European Championship
bronze medallist Sophie Cox started her competition with a win
against Chi Leng Vong of Macau as she followed a yuko up with
an ippon.
Sophie Cox defeats Chi Leng Vong of Macau
© Mike Varey
Cox lost out to Poland's
Marta Kuban in the final minute of the contest by ippon.
Sophie Cox said: “It was
a disappointing result I did not perform on the day. I am, though,
looking to stay positive to build on my speed and tactics.”
Danny Williams received
a bye and started out in the second round against Georgia’s Tengizi
Paposhvili who defeated Guatemala’s Juan Mejia De La Roca to face
the Briton.
Williams scored a come-from-behind
victory as he progressed by producing waza-ari with 25 seconds
left after trailing by a yuko for the majority of the contest.
Danny Williams comes back to beat Tengizi Paposhvili
© Mike Varey
Next up was world number
six and 2009 world bronze medallist Mansur Isaev from Russia.
Williams pressed his hotly tipped opponent for much of the contest
and set a fast pace but was edged out by a yuko.
British Judo Performance
Director Margaret Hicks said: “There were positive performances.
What we are seeing again is we have a confident team, with the
technical aspects now also coming in.
"It is disappointing
for Gemma she did not get that top-eight fight, but she did demolish
the 2009 World champion in front of her home crowd.”
On Thursday, Euan Burton
(-81kg), Sarah Clark and Faith Pitman (both -63kg) will look to
make their mark.
An official IJF stream
will be available here
from 8am GMT.
For live updates join
us on Facebook
and Twitter
|