2023 International Calendar to start in Portugal

The 2023 international judo calendar kicks off this weekend in the Portuguese city and municipality of Almada.

The IJF World Tour takes place from Friday to Sunday with the stage handed over to the world’s best VI judoka as the IBSA Judo Grand Prix takes place on Monday and Tuesday.

20 GB judoka will be in action over the next 5 days in Almada with the action getting underway tomorrow morning.

Friday 27^th – 9:00am start

Fresh from her silver medal at the IJF Masters in December, world number one Chelsie Giles (Coventry JC; Simon Moss) leads the -52kg entires.

Giles who has a Grand Prix silver and two bronze medals in her collection will face Rebeka Keller (HUN) in Round 2 after an opening round bye.

Lele Nairne (Bradley Stoke; Pete Douglas) will be hoping to carry her form from the second half of 2022 into 2023 as she competes alongside Nekoda Smythe-Davis (Ealing Judo Club; Jo Crowley) (featured image) in the -57kg category.

After winning gold at the Perth Oceania Open, Nairne placed 5^th in the Baku Grand Slam before a 7^th place finish at the Masters.

Smythe-Davis meanwhile made a winning return to competition, following the birth of her daughter, when she picked up gold at the Riccione European Cup last year.

5^th seed Nairne has been drawn against Flaka Loxha (KOS) in Round 2 following an opening-round bye.

Smythe-Davis will also have an opening round bye before she faces 8^th seed Vera Zemanova (CZE) in Round 2.

Commonwealth Games bronze medallist and Perth Oceania Open silver medallist, Amy Platten (Redbridge JC; Guy Platten) competes in the -48kg category. Drawn in Pool A, Platten will face 8^th seed Katharina Tanzer (AUT) in the opening round.

Josh Giles (Coventry JC; Simon Moss) and Charlie Young (Ryecroft Judokwai; Paul Young) compete in the -60kg and -66kg categories respectively.

Giles has an opening-round bye before facing Younes Saddiki (MAR) in Round 2, while Young has an opening-round contest against Andres Pariche (VEN) in a weight category that has 50 entries.

Saturday 28^th – 9:00am start

Kelly Petersen-Pollard (Hardy Spicer; Fitzroy Davies) and Mima Yeats-Brown (Ryecroft Judokwai; Ian Oliver)will be in action in the -70kg category. The Commonwealth Games bronze medallists are seeded 3^rd and 5^th respectively.

Yeats-Brown, who finished 7^th at the 2022 Portugal Grand Slam will face Anastassiya Mayakova (KAZ) in Round 2, whilst Petersen-Pollard will face Anastassiya Morozova (KAZ), also in Round 2.

In the -81kg category, Lachlan Moorhead (Sheffield JC; Matt Moorhead) is joined by Vladimir Oleinic who makes his IJF World Tour debut under the GBR flag at the age of 39.

Moorhead enters as 5^th seed and will face either Rustam Orujov (AZE) or Kell Berliner (USA) following an opening round bye.

Meanwhile, Oleinic will face Iftach Badash (ISR) in the opening round.

Eric Ham (Glossop JC; Geoff Ham) competes for the first time since winning bronze at the Perth Oceania Open in October. Competing in an -73kg category alongside 59 athletes, he will face 8^th seed and defending bronze medallist Ankhzaya Lavjargal (MGL) in the opening round.

Sunday 29^th – 10:00am start

Emma Reid (Redbridge JC; Steve Sandy) enters as the number 1 seed in the -78kg category. The Commonwealth Champion narrowly missed out on a medal at the 2022 Portugal Grand Prix, finishing 5^th.

Reid has an opening-round bye before facing either Chloe Buttigieg (FRA) or Carolina Paiva (POR).

Another Commonwealth Champion will be in action in the -90kg category. Jamal Petgrave (Westcroft JC; Andy Ede) is seeded 6^th and will face Karl Baathe (SWE) in Round 2 following an opening round bye.

Commonwealth Games bronze medallists Rhys Thompson (Enfield JC; George Hyslop) and Harry Lovell-Hewitt (Stroud JC; Richard Neale) will both compete in the -100kg category.

2022 Perth Oceania Open champion, Thompson, will face Miklos Crijenics (HUN) in the opening round, whilst Lovell-Hewitt will face Celio Dias (POR) in Round 1.

Monday 30^th – 10:00am start

Connah Anders (Hardy Spicer; Fitzroy Davies) is the sole GB Judo representative on the opening day when he competes in the J1 -73kg category. Anders made her World Championship debut in 2022 after an impressive 5^th place finish at the IBSA European Championships earlier in the year.

Tuesday 31^st – 10:00am start

Dan Powell made a dramatic return to the VI judo scene last year as he picked up a silver medal at the IBSA World Championships. He will compete in the J1 -90kg category.

Competing in the J2 -90kg category is Evan Molloy (Devizes JC; Mark Burbridge). 2022 was Molloy’s greatest in the sport to date and one that he will be looking to improve upon in 2023. 2022 Saw Molloy claim silver and bronze medals at the IBSA Egyptian International Judo Championships and IBSA Antalya Grand Prix respectively ahead of a 5^th place finish at the IBSA European Championships.

Paralympic Champion and 2022 IBSA Sao Paulo Grand Prix champion Chris Skelley (Haltemprice; Ian Johns) will be in action in the J2 +90kg category. Skelley won gold at the 2022 IBSA Sao Paulo Grand Prix following a bronze medal at the IBSA Nur-Sultan Grand Prix.

Kirsten Taylor (Tayside JC; David Scobie) claimed silver at the IBSA Nur-Sultan Grand Prix in 2022 before a 4^thplace finish at the IBSA European Championships. The Scottish judoka will fight in the J2 +70kg category.

IJF Portugal Grand Prix

Preliminary Round action starts at 09:00am (GMT) on Friday and Saturday and 10:00am on Sunday.

Final Block is scheduled to commence at 17:00 on each day.

You can watch all the action from the Portugal Grand Prix LIVE at live.ijf.org each day.

IBSA Portugal Grand Prix

Preliminary Round action starts at 10:00am (GMT) on Monday and Tuesday.

Final Block is scheduled to commence at 16:00 on both days.

You can watch all the action from the IBSA Portugal Grand Prix LIVE on the IBSA Sport YouTube channel each day.

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