37 GB Judo fighters head to Warsaw

The European Open heads to Warsaw this weekend with 37 GB Judo fighters set to compete.

With the Birmingham Commonwealth Games fast approaching, the Home-Nation fighters head to Warsaw looking to impress and pick up valuable wins to help their selection claim.

25 male fighters will compete alongside 12 female fighters with GB Judo refereeing power couple Lisa Harrison and Martin Rivers also representing.

Men:

Judo Scotland’s Dylan Munro competes in the -60kg competition. Munro picked up bronze and silver medals at the Dubrovnik European Cup and Malaga European Open respectively last year before taking silver at the recent British Championships.

Alexander Short topped the podium at the Dubrovnik European Cup last year. The British Championship bronze medallist is seeded 5^th and will be joined by fellow bronze medallist Michael Fryer and silver medallist Charlie Young.

Sarajevo European Open silver medallist Daniel Powell leads a four strong GB contingent in the -73kg category. British Champion Powell is joined by bronze medallist Sean Martell.

There is a welcome return to competition for Stuart McWatt in the -81kg category. McWatt hasn’t competed since finishing 5^th at the Tel Aviv Grand Slam where a shoulder injury curtailed his Tokyo Olympic qualification bid. McWatt is joined by 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Slam bronze medallist Lachlan Moorhead (feature image) who is seeded 4^th.

In the -90kg category Dubrovnik European Cup champion Jamal Petgrave is joined by multiple World Championship representative Max Stewart who last competed at the 2021 World Championships in Hungary. Stewart enters as the 5^th seed.

Sarajevo European Open bronze medallist Harry Lovell-Hewitt competes in the -100kg category alongside Dubrovnik European Cup bronze medallist and 8^th seed Max Gregory.

Glasgow Commonwealth Games Champion and London 2012 Olympian Christopher Sherrington returns to the international circuit having last competed at the Tel Aviv Grand Prix back in January 2020. The veteran fighter is joined by a fighter at the start of their senior career, Andrew McWatt who makes his senior international debut and return from injury which last saw him compete internationally in July 2019.

Women:

The -52kg category sees three British Championship medallists compete. Silver medallist Kirsty Marsh is joined by bronze medallists Yasmin Javadian and Kimberley Renicks. 6^th seed Javadian is a former European Junior and U23 Championship bronze medallist, whilst Renicks has stepped up to the -52kg category from -48kgs where she was Commonwealth Champion in 2014.

Bekky Livesey recently finished 7^th at the Sarajevo European Open. The former European Junior bronze medallist is seeded 8^th and will be joined in the -57kg category by Tomi Imrie who represented Team GB at the 2017 European Youth Olympic Festival. Imrie makes her international senior debut having last competed for GB Judo at the Zagreb Cadet European Cup in 2018.

British Championship silver medallist Jessie Edwards who finished 7^th at the Dubrovnik European Cup in October, is the sole GB Judo representative in the -63kg category.

Rachel Tytler competes in the -78kg category whilst Tokyo Olympian Sarah Adlington, seeded 5^th, competes for the first time following her 5^th place finish at the Portugal Grand Prix in the +78kg category.

View the full GB Judo team competing in Warsaw here

Follow the British Judo social media pages for updates throughout the weekend.