Emma Reid Secures 5th Place at 2025 European Championships

Last week, eight British judokas travelled to Podgorica for the 2025 European Judo Championships, where Emma Reid achieved the team’s top result with a 5th-place finish.

Emma Reid (Redbridge) fought on the final day of the event in the -78kg category, beginning her campaign in the Round of 16 against Lithuania’s Migle Julija Dudenaite. Reid made a strong start, scoring waza-ari in under a minute and controlling the contest for the remainder of the fight.

This win saw her move swiftly into the quarter-finals, where she faced Slovakia’s Metka Lobnik. In a tough match that went into Golden Score, Reid kept her composure and secured a yuko score to book her place in the semi-finals.

Unfortunately, the rest of the day didn’t go Reid’s way. She was defeated in the semi-final by Germany’s Anna Monta Olek, sending her into the bronze medal contest. There, after a hard-fought battle against Ukraine’s Yuliia Kurchenko, Reid narrowly missed out on a podium finish.

A 5th place is still a strong result for the world number eight. Congratulations, Emma!

Our day-one trio of British judokas faced tough challenges but gained valuable lessons and experience from the event. Charlie Young (Ryecroft) started the day with a bye in the -66kg field, stepping onto the tatami for the first time in the Round of 32. There, he faced Serbia’s Strahinja Buncic and scored yuko to win the fight. Unfortunately, Young’s run ended in the Round of 16, where he was knocked out of the competition.

Both Michael Fryer (Rush Judo) in the -66kg and Tatum Keen (Bradley Stoke) in the -52kg categories also competed on the opening day. It was their first Senior European Championships, and while they were unable to progress past their opening matches, the experience of stepping up to this level of competition will be invaluable for both of them.

Day 2 saw Ben Levy (Budokwai), the youngest in the squad at just 20 years old, make his debut at the Senior European Championship in the -73kg division. Levy pushed his opponent to the limit, lasting almost the full four minutes. Unfortunately, he was defeated by a single waza-ari in the final 10 seconds of the bout.

Kelly Petersen-Pollard (Hardy Spicer 83) stepped up for her third Senior European Championships on Day 3 in the -70kg category, where she secured a win in her opening match after her opponent, Jovana Cakarevic of Serbia, received three shidos. This victory sent Petersen-Pollard through to the Round of 16, where she lasted the duration of the fight but was narrowly defeated by a single yuko.

Finally, joining Emma Reid on the last day of the event were Ollie Barratt and Max Gregory, who both competed in the -100kg category.

Max Gregory (Drake JC) excelled in his opening match against Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Nikola Pljevaljcic, registering ippon to move through to the Round of 16. Unfortunately, Max’s tournament ended there, but like the others, he gained valuable experience from his first Senior European Championships.

Ollie Barratt (Dragons Academy) didn’t make it past his first fight, where he was unfortunately defeated by ippon towards the end of the match.

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