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Edinburgh’s judo stars primed for Senior
European Championships
Great Britain’s Edinburgh-based
judo stars Euan Burton, Matthew Purssey, James Millar and Sally
Conway are all in optimistic mood ahead of the Senior European
Championships in Vienna, Austria from April 23 rd - 25 th .
The talented group all
compete out of the renowned Edinburgh Judo Club.
Decorated judoka Euan Burton,
a multiple time medallist at the European Championships, said:
“I’m confident because I know I’ve done the hard work.”
Burton, 30, took silver
at the German Grand Prix last month, but is too experienced to
overstate his chances of success in Austria.
“I’m never guaranteed a
result, the standard is always high and you have to perform,”
he said.
“I’ve medalled there before,
but that won’t be a factor, the events are in different countries
and there are different competitors, you can’t go on past success.”
Fellow standout Matthew
Purssey, who finished fifth in last month’s Grand Slam in Paris,
believes the squad are well placed for success at the high-profile
event.
“Confidence is sky high
at the moment, we’re on a big high” said Purssey.
“I’m going there to become
European champion. I’d be very disappointed if I didn’t come home
with a medal.”
James Millar, 28, finished
fifth at the Prague World Cup and is ready to make a final push
in training towards the competition.
“The squad are joining
up next week,” he said. “I’ve been going over different movement
patterns in training.”
“I think we can achieve
at least two or three medals. We have a good squad going over.”
The Institute’s final representative,
the fast-rising judoka Sally Conway, who competes in the under
70kg category, says preparations are going well.
“I’ve just come back from
training in Japan where there was over 200 players on the mat,
so there was a really good amount of fighters to work with,” she
said.
The 23-year-old from Bristol
captured gold at the Belarus World Cup in October and will be
looking to ever-increasing reputation with another medal finish
in Austria.
“It’s a tough event, it’s
an important one and I’m hoping to do well.
“I’d like to think that
I can compete for a medal, the way training is going I’m feeling
good.
“For the next few weeks
we’ll be going through tactics and how to deal with left and right
handed fighters as well as looking at the other women in my category.”
The British Judo Association
is the National Governing Body for the Olympic Sport of judo in
Great Britain.
Edinburgh Judo is an elite
club who train at St Pauls Church, Lorne Square, EH6 8QU. Girls
and boys (Age 10+) train on Monday and Wednesday at 17:15 – 18:00
while adults train on the same days at 18:30 – 19:30.
Media Contact:
Mark Pickering
British Judo
(t) 01509 631674
(e) mark.pickering@britishjudo.org.uk
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