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Britain finished the 2008
Junior European Championships with three bronze medals in the
women’s -48kg, -57kg and +78kg weight categories.
Kelly Edwards took bronze,
in the -48kg weight category, on day one of Championships, which
took place Warsaw, Poland.
She had a good start to
the day beating Kristyna Sedivakova of the Czech Republic, but
lost in her next match to Derya Cilbil of Turkey, taking her straight
in the repechage, with the opportunity to progress further.
In the repechage she defeated
Shira Rishony of Israel and Ioana Matei of Romania to claim her
spot in the bronze medal match. There she met Juliette Staedler
of Swizerland, who the Brit beat after full time on points.
Commenting afterwards Kelly
said, "I am so happy. This is definitely the biggest competition
I have ever done and this bronze is a personal best for me".
Looking towards the Junior
World Championships she said, "I am confident now going into
the Junior Worlds. It is nice to have this medal going into that
event. It has not been a good year for me with injuries. It has
been a bit stop and start in terms of training, but I had a fantastic
build up to these Championships with hard training camps in Austria
and Japan. I am pleased to have some reward for the hard work
I have put in".
On day two Gemma Howell
won bronze in the -57kg weight category. She beat Ivelina
Iliera of Bulgaria in her first fight of the pool round but couldn’t
get past Tajda Ketis of Slovnia in the second. Luckily for
the Brit, Ketis went on win a place in the semi-final taking Howell
into the repechage where she beat Yulia Ryzhora of Russia, Eva
Koubkova of the Czech Republic and then Agata Perenc of Poland
to take bronze from the home favourite.
Britain’s final bronze
came on day three from Ashley Fleming in the +78kg weight category.
Fleming won her pool beating Seda Kazdal of Turkey and Aurore
Quitin of France, but lost in the semi to Sara Alvarez of Spain.
In the bronze medal match she defeated Svitlana Yaromka of the
Ukraine.
All three medallists are
part of the team that will compete in the Junior World Championships
next month in Bangkok, Thailand.
Picture:
Medallists, Gemma Howell, Ashley Fleming and Kelly Edwards
Media Contact:
Emma Griffin
British Judo
(e) emmagriffin@britishjudo.org.uk
(t) 07875 368495
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