Located on Italy’s Eastern Riviera, Riccione is a commune in the Province of Rimini, Emilia-Romagna, and this weekend plays host to the latest European Open.
With the World Championships fast approaching, a number of judoka are travelling to Italy to compete at the Riccione European Open. Four of the GB Judo team heading to Tashkent next month will be in action alongside a number of Commonwealth medallists.
Day one will see double World Championship medallist Nekoda Smythe-Davis (Jo Crowley; Ealing JC) continue her return to competition. Smythe-Davis made her return to competition last weekend with a 5thplace finish at the Oberwart European Open, competing in the -63kg category, but will compete in her more familiar weight category (-57kg) this weekend.
In the -66kg category, Finlay Allan (Luke Preston; Camberley JC) picked up a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games last month whilst -48kg bronze medallist Amy Platten (Guy Platten; Redbridge JC) competes following her 7th place finish at last weekend’s Oberwart European Open. Eric Ham (Geoff Ham; Glossop JC), who missed out on bronze to teammate Daniel Powell in Oberwart, returns to compete in the -73kg category whilst Powell will compete on day 2 in the -81kg category alongside Commonwealth Champion Lachlan Moorhead (Matt Moorhead; Sheffield JC).
There will be two more Commonwealth champions in action on the second day as Jamal Petgrave (Andy Ede; Westcroft) and Emma Reid (Steve Sandy; Redbridge JC) are in action in the -90kg and -78kg categories respectively. Reid is one of the judoka that will compete at the World Championships alongside -70kg fighters and Commonwealth bronze medallists Kelly Petersen-Pollard (Fitzroy Davis; Hardy Spicer 83) and Jemima Yeats-Brown (Ian Oliver; Ryecroft Judokwai).
Commonwealth Games bronze medallists Rhys Thompson (George Hyslop; Enfield JC) and Rachel Tytler (Brian Long; ProJudo) compete in the -100kg and -78kg categories respectively.
Tytler’s fellow Scottish Commonwealth Games representatives Dylan Munro (Billy Cusack; Edinburgh JC) and Alexander Short (Cusack; Edinburgh JC) will compete on the opening day in the -60 and -66kg categories respectively.
Referees Martin and Lisa Rivers have also been selected to represent GB Judo in Riccione.
View the full GB Judo team here
Preliminary Round action will start at 8:00am on both Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th with Final Block to follow at approximately 16:00 (timings subject to change)
In light of recent news, British Judo will not be providing its usual competition coverage of the event. Instead, we will bring you a full round-up of the results from Riccione and the World Veteran Championships on Monday.
