Emma Reid Secures Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Bronze
November 02, 2026
It was a strong weekend for Great Britain at the 2026 Abu Dhabi Grand Slam, with the team securing a bronze medal, a fifth-place finish and two seventh-place finishes.
Emma Reid (Redbridge JC) claimed an excellent bronze medal in Abu Dhabi, fighting her way through the -78kg category to reach the podium for the third time this year.
She began her campaign against Lieke Derks (NED) in the Round of 16, producing an impressive opening performance as she scored two waza-aris to secure her place in the quarter-finals with 30 seconds remaining.
In the quarter-final, Reid faced Aqulina Chayeb (LBN) in a tougher contest, with neither judoka able to find a decisive score during regular time. The bout went into golden score, where, after more than five and a half minutes, Reid produced the winning waza-ari to book her place in the semi-finals.
There, she faced world number two Yelyzaveta Lytvynenko (UAE). Despite taking an early lead with a yuko, Reid was unable to hold on against the eventual winner and reigning world champion, sending her into the bronze medal contest.
Reid faced the world number six and European Championships bronze medallist, Metka Lobnik (SLO) in the final block, in a closely fought contest between the two judoka. With the score level at the end of regular time, the bout went into golden score, where an excellent sankaku-gatame from the Brit secured her the bronze medal!
Irakli Goginashvili (Palavani) finished fifth in the -73kg category, securing his second career top-five finish at a Grand Slam at just 20 years old.
He opened his campaign in the Round of 32 against Yehontan Elbaz (ISR), who had finished fifth at the 2026 Senior World Championships. In a closely contested opening bout, Goginashvili took an early lead with a yuko and waza-ari before holding on to secure the win.
In the Round of 16, he faced Zamohshari Bekmurodov (UZB), initially falling behind to a yuko before responding impressively to level the contest. Goginashvili then produced a decisive ippon with just 10 seconds remaining to progress to the quarter-finals.
A difficult quarter-final against Karen Galstian (RUS) saw Goginashvili drop into the repechage, where he bounced back in style to defeat Giorgi Chikhelidze (GEO) by ippon in just two minutes and 30 seconds, securing his place in the final block.
In the bronze medal contest, he faced reigning Olympic champion and 2024 world champion Hidayat Heydarov (AZE), pushing his opponent all the way in an impressive performance. The pair battled for six minutes and 22 seconds, with the contest going into golden score before a third shido unfortunately brought Goginashvili’s challenge to an end, leaving him with a strong fifth-place finish.
There were also two seventh-place finishes for Great Britain, with Charlie Ayre (Tees Valley JC) fighting his way through to the quarter-finals in the -60kg category before exiting the competition in the repechage, while Acelya Toprak (Camberley JC) also reached the final stages before being defeated in her repechage contest at -57kg.
Congratulations to the whole team on their performances in Abu Dhabi!
