5th and 7th for our -57kg judoka at Austria Grand Prix

On the opening day of the Austria Grand Prix, Nekoda Smythe-Davis (Ealing Judo Club; Jo Crowley) registered a 5^th place finish whilst Acelya Toprak (Darren Hawney & Fitzroy Davies; Metro Judo Club & Relentless Judo) finished 7^th in the -57kg category.

Entering as the 6^th seed, Smythe-Davis defeated Ana Agulhas (POR) and Fidan Alizada (AZE) to progress to the quarter-finals to face 2x World Champion and Olympic bronze medallist Daria Bilodid (UKR).

The pair endured a lengthy battle with Bilodid eventually emerging victorious in the 12^th minute of the contest, meaning Smythe-Davis progressed to the Repechage for a chance to fight for bronze.

Smythe-Davis progressed straight to the bronze medal contest courtesy of her Repechage opponent, Hasret Bozkurt (TUR), being awarded a hansoku-make in the previous round.

Smythe-Davis faced 2023 Tokyo and Tashkent Grand Slam bronze medallist Akari Omori (JPN) in the bronze medal contest.

Omori registered a waza-ari score at the midway point of the contest after both judoka received penalty shidos.

As the contest neared the 4-minute mark, both judoka battled to register a score. With both judoka attempting the same technique, osoto gari, it was Omori who was able to register the score to secure the bronze medal, meaning Smythe-Davis finished in 5^th place.

Toprak defeated Giulia Caggiano (ITA) and Shannon Van De Meeberg (NED) to set up a quarter-final contest against Seija Ballhaus (GER) where defeat saw her progress to the Repechage to face number one seed Marica Perisic.

The contest went to Golden Score where Toprak looked to have secured victory with a counter throw for ippon score, but this was cancelled before Perisic registered a waza-ari score to progress. The result meant Toprak had to settle for 7^th, which matched her best result at a Grand Prix.

Following an opening round bye, Michael Fryer (Laurie Rush; Rush Judo) defeated Serdar Rahimov (TKM) by ippon score to progress to Round Three where he was defeated by a single waza-ari score by Lennart Slamberger (GER).

There were opening round exits for Amy Platten (Guy Platten; Redbridge JC), Josh Giles (Simon Moss; Coventry JC), Dylan Munro (Billy Cusack; Edinburgh Judo) and Charlie Young (Ryecroft Judokwai; Paul Young) as they were defeated by Shira Rishony (ISR), Diego Ismael (BRA), Ahmad Yusifov (AZE) and Mykyta Holoborodko (UKR) respectively.

Tomorrow will see 6 judoka in action for GB judo with action getting underway at 9:00am (BST).

You can watch all the action from the Upper Austria Grand Prix LIVE at judotv.com each day.

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