Four VI Fighters return to the mat at Baku Grand Prix

Four British Judo VI fighters return to competition this week as they compete at the IBSA Baku Grand Prix, in Azerbaijan, from 25 – 26 May.

The Baku Grand Prix is the penultimate Tokyo 2020 Paralympic qualification event and the first competition for British Judo VI team since the Tbilisi World Cup in February 2020 following the forced cancellation of multiple competitions last year.

The final chance for fighters to secure their place at the Paralympic Games will be at the Warwick Grand Prix from 19 – 20 June.

All four British Judo fighters are in action on Wednesday 26th, the second and final day of competition.

Chris Skelley, who is the current world number 1 ranked -100kg fighter, won gold at the Baku Grand Prix back and 2019 and claimed silver at the Tbilisi World Cup at his last competition over 15 months ago.

World and European bronze medallist Elliot Stewart (featured image) is currently ranked world number 5 in the -90kg category.

Also ranked 5th in the world is 2x European Championship bronze medallist Jack Hodgson who, competing in the +100kg category, finished 5th at this event back in 2019.

Evan Molloy, who finished 7th at the IBSA Paralympic Qualifier in Fort Wayne in 2019, competes in the -81kg category.

The draw is made at 5pm (BST) and you can watch it live on the British Judo homepage along with all the action across Tuesday and Wednesday.

Action is due to start at 07:00am (BST) with Final Block scheduled to commence at 12:30 (BST).

British Judo will bring you a recap of how all your British fighters perform each day and you can follow the action on the British Judo social media channels. You can also watch the action live on the British Judo homepage.