Team of Four Head to Tokyo Grand Slam

A team of four GB athletes will be competing in this week’s Tokyo Grand Slam.

The prestigious event, also billed the Kano Cup in honour of Judo’s founding father, is one of the International Judo Federation’s top level events on the World Tour, carrying valuable ranking points as athletes aim for the top 16 ahead of next year’s Olympic qualification period.

The team contains two medallists from last weekend’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, with -78kg silver medallist Natalie Powell looking to get another result against a tough field in Japan.

Sally Conway (-70kg) won bronze in the gulf and will be hoping to break into the top 10 of the world ranking list with a good result in Tokyo.

Colin Oates (-66kg) will be looking to bounce back after a disappointing early exit in Abu Dhabi. He’s shown his quality this year with wins over two-time world champion Rishod Sobirov and London 2012 gold medallist Lasha Shavdatuashvili at the World Championships in Rio and will be hoping to be back at his best this weekend.

Joining the squad for Tokyo will be -60kg athlete Ashley McKenzie, making his first appearance on the World Tour since August’s Rio World Championships. After winning a bronze at the European Championships earlier in the year, he has the potential to get a result in Japan.

Action starts at 10:00 JST (01:00 GMT) with final blocks at 15:30 JST (06:30 GMT). McKenzie and Oates will be in action on Friday 29th November, Conway on Saturday 30th and Natalie Powell on Sunday 1st December.

British Judo will be providing limited coverage of the event, but you can watch live on ippon.tv or follow the results at ippon.org