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Euan Burton and Michelle
Rogers both won bronzes for Britain at the 2007 European Championships,
which took place in Belgrade, Serbia from the 6th -8th April.
It is a second European
Championship medal for Edinburgh’s Euan Burton who once again
proved his ability to rise to the occasion winning his bronze,
in the –81kg weight category, on day two of the Championships.
The 28-year-old, who also
won bronze at the 2005 European Championships, looked strong in
the pool round, beating former European Champion, Switzerland's
Sergei Aschwanden with an armlock for ippon in his first fight.
He narrowly lost his quarter
final match against World Champion Guillaume Elmont of the Netherlands,
on a shido (penalty score). In the repechage he beat Sirazhudin
Magomedov of Russia, Avisav Sheinmann of Israel, and in the fight
for the bronze medal, Klemen Ferjan of Slovenia - all three by
the maximum ippon score.
Michelle Rogers won bronze,
in the –78kg weight category, on the third and final day of the
Championships.
It was the fifth Senior
European Championship appearance, and fourth Senior European Championship
medal for Michelle, who trains at the Scottish Institute of Sport.
The 30-year-old Atlanta
Olympian ended just outside the medals at the 2006 European Championships
finishing in 5th place.
In Serbia, after losing
her third fight to Esther San Miguel of Spain, she beat Claudia
Zwiers of the Netherlands and Lucia Morico of Italy in the repechage.
In the fight for bronze she overpowered Svlatlana Tsimaskenka
of Belarus to take the medal.
2006 European Champion,
Edinburgh’s Sarah Clark was disappointed to miss out on a medal
in the –63kg weight category, losing the bronze medal match to
Olympic silver medallist, Claudia Heill of Austria.
Britain’s two youngest
competitors put in promising performances after being drawn against
tough competition.
In the –66kg weight category,
17-year-old JR Badrick was unlucky to lose against former European
Champion, Oscar Penas of Spain.
When the pair met previously
at the 2007 Warsaw World Cup the win came much easier for the
experienced Spainiard. At this meeting the roles were nearly reversed
as the young Brit showed skill beyond his years, but it seemed
the strength of Penas gave him the edge as he countered an attack
by Badrick to take the win. However the young Willesden player
should be encouraged by the fact that despite being inexperienced
at this level, he was not outclassed by such a World Class player.
In the –70kg weight category,
Sally Conway from Edinburgh fought hard against Anett Meszaros
of Hungry, who is former Junior World Champion and the Current
Junior European and –23 years European Champion. 19-year-old Conway
lost by two minor scores in a closely fought match.
The Brits will continue
their quest for Beijing qualification at the Vejen World Cup for
Women and the Rome World Cup for Men on the 28th -29th April.
Contact:
Emma Reed
Head of Communications
British Judo
Direct Line: 01509 631
692
Mobile: 07875 368 495
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