Juniors ready for Euro challenge

This weekend will see a ten strong British Judo team take on the best in Europe at the Junior European Judo Championships in Oberwart, Austria (18-20 September).

Each member of the team comes into the championships with medals to their name this year with three leading the way in terms of individual medals won on the IJF Junior World Tour in 2015.

This includes -63kg judoka Lubjana ‘Lulu’ Piovesana and Lucy Renshall with seven and six medals this year respectively. Piovesana has won four Junior European Cup gold medals this year but was beaten in the final of the Berlin and Deva Junior European Cups by her teammate last month and both will be aiming to end the competition on the podium this weekend.

Stuart McWatt (-81kg) has enjoyed an impressive year with six medals in his first year at Junior level and with three recent medals, including a gold in Wroclaw in July, the Scottish judoka is hitting form at the right time.

At -60kg Sam Hall and Neil MacDonald are both looking for strong finishes to the year with Hall having won four medals this year including a gold in La Coruna in May. MacDonald meanwhile is a two-time Cadet European bronze medallist and he will be hoping that experience puts him in good stead in Austria.

Kelly Staddon (-48kg) is coming into the European Championships in form having won gold at the recent Deva Junior European Cup while Chelsie Giles (-52kg) has proven solid all year with her best performance a silver in the Coimbra Junior European Cup.

In the -57kg category both Jodie Caller and Bekky Livesey are ones to watch with Caller winning four medals along with placing at five other Junior European Cups this year while Livesey, the younger sister of Amy and Owen, is coming into Oberwart off the back of a bronze in Berlin and a silver in Deva last month.

Glossop’s Eric Ham will go in the -73kg category and with four medals to his name at Junior European Cup level this year including a gold in Coimbra and recent bronze in Deva he is another member of the team coming into form at the right time.

Centre of Excellence Coach and England Head Coach Jamie Johnson has been pleased with how the team has prepared for the Championships:

“Preparation’s been really good for the ten. We’ve been in the Centre of Excellence every day doing video analysis, working on their own techniques for a long time, been focusing on a lot of grip work.

“The gym works been going well, been on the track so yeah they’re looking sharp and hopefully this will pay off for us.”

He also believes the good form shown throughout the year will put the team in good stead for the weekend:

“It’s great for us all really. The more medals we get in European Cups the better because that’s who the guys will be fighting so it’s just the title that’s the different thing really.

“We do European Cups whether it’s Portugal, whether it’s Russia but it’s still the same fighters they’ll be fighting at European Championships.”

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