GB SUCCESS AT SARAJEVO EUROPEAN OPEN

This weekend saw success for GB judoka at the Sarajevo European Open. A total of five medals were won across the two-day competition this weekend.

Day one of the Sarajevo European Open saw two GB Judoka bringing home medals across their weight category.

Men’s -66kg judoka Sam Hall won gold on Saturday 16th September. Hall entered the competition in the first round where he gained his first victory of the competition after scoring an Ippon against Rufat Aydinov (AZE). Hall went on to gain further victories against Loan Celikbilek (SUI) and Giuseppe De Tullio (ITA) with Ippon scores until reaching the semi-finals. Hall progressed to the finals after defeating Freddy Waizenegger (SUI) in the semi-finals. Another Ippon score for Hall in the final block saw him secure the gold medal against Islam Rahimov (AZE).

GB Judoka Eric Ham won bronze in the -73kg category. Entering the competition with a first-round bye, Ham went on to defeat Swiss Judoka John Waizenegger in the second round and progress to the semi-final. Ham was defeated in the semi-final but went on to fight Daniel Szegedi (HUN) where he then secured the bronze medal position.

Emma Reid, Ollie Barratt and Wesley Greenidge continued the GB success in day two of the Sarajevo European Open.

Gold medal winner Emma Reid defeated all her opponents in each round of the -78kg category securing a 1^st place position. Entering the competition with a first-round bye, went on to Reid defeat German Vicky Verschaere with an wazari-score in the semi-final. The final block saw Reid take on Jovana Pekovic (MNE) where she then secured the gold medal.

Continuing with the success on day two, GB Men -100kg Judoka Ollie Barratt entered the competition with an opening first-round bye. Barratt defeated Danilo Pantic with an Ippon score to see him through to the semi-finals where he then went on to be victorious against Ruslan Nasirli (AZE). Barratt went on to face Nikola Pljevaljcic (BIH) in the men’s -100kg final but fell short of a winning result taking home a silver medal.

Wesley Greenidge won his first round of the competition against Andrija Stosic (SRB) but was defeated in the quarter-finals and found himself in the repechage where he clawed back a win and secured a bronze medal contest. The bronze medal fight saw Greenidge come out on top after defeating Yvo Witassek (GER) to secure his bronze medal.