Silver medals for Ingram and Hodgson at IBSA World Games

British Judo Paralympic hopefuls, Sam Ingram, Jack Hodgson and Chris Skelley took a further leap forward to qualifying for Rio 2016 at the IBSA World Games today (15thMay).

Ingram (-90kg) and Hodgson (+100kg) both took silver medals with Skelley (-100kg) fighting back from injury to take bronze in Korea.

London 2012 silver medallist, Sam Ingram (-90kg), continued his good form coming into the World Games, beating 2014 World Champion, Crockett (USA) in just 17 seconds with a strangle.

In a closely fought final contest, Ingram narrowly missed out on gold, losing out to Gogotchuri (GEO) on penalties to take home silver.

In the story of the day, Chris Skelley (-100kg) fought his way back against the odds from a dislocated hip injury just six weeks ago to compete at the games. With some fantastic medical support, an accelerated recovery programme and abundance of determination, Skelley was determined to be fit to compete just days before the games began.

Skelley stormed through his first two contests, beating Cherapanov (RUS) in a particularly strong showing. Losing out world number one, Sharipov (RUS), in the semi-final,  Skelley went on to take a bronze medal beating London 2012 silver medallist Porter (USA) by strangle in the final 30 seconds of the repecharge final.

At just 18 years old, Jack Hodgson (+100kg) came into the World Games in good form, with bronze medals in the Hungary World Cup and German Open and a silver in the Brazilian Grand Prix. His good form continued on his route to the +100kg final, beating both Anderson (USA) and Parasiuk (RUS).

Facing Gaidarov (RUS) in the final, Hodgson went down to an early waza-ari and was then thrown for ippon leaving him to take the silver medal in the +100kg category.

Natalie Greenhough (-70kg) competed on Wednesday (13^th May), coming into the games off the back of medals at the Brazilian Grand Prix and German Open. Despite losing out in both her contests, Greenhough showed good signs of improvement.

British Judo Paralympic Coach, Ian Johns, said: “I am over the moon with the performance of the team at these games. Obviously taking medals was our aim coming out here to Seoul, but we have gained much more than that.

“The performances of the athletes have been superb and I am very proud of the general professionalism of the squad. Jack Hodgson’s massive ippon in the semi-final and Sam Ingram strangling the world champion inside 17 seconds were highlights of the day. Chris Skelley’s story really is an inspiration after what he has been through it is a miracle that he was even able to compete never mind take a medal.

“Our program is going in the right direction and I am excited about the future of British VI Judo.”

The IBSA World Games is an integral part of the road to Rio 2016 for Paralympic athletes, with major qualification points available.

The British Judo Paralympic Team will next be in action in Portugal for the European Championships in Portugal.

Check out the behind the scenes gallery from the IBSA World Games