Emma Reid claims bronze at Abu Dhabi World Championships

On the penultimate day of the Abu Dhabi World Championships, Emma Reid claimed a dramatic bronze medal for British Judo to round off a remarkable last month for the -78kg judoka.

Reid overcame Aruna Jangeldina (KAZ) with a koshi-guruma throw for ippon score. She followed this up with a round two victory against Ikumi Oeda (THA) to set up a round three contest against Guusje Steenhuis (NED).

Reid countered a Steenhuis attack to register a waza-ari score. Steenhuis emerged from the encounter with a grimace and did not look comfortable for the remainder of the contest. The clock ran down with just the single score on the board and Reid booked her place in the Quarter-Finals at the expense of the 5^th seeded Dutch judoka.

Reid faced Beata Pacut-Kloczko (POL), a judoka she defeated the previous week in the bronze medal contest at the Kazakhstan Grand Slam. It was a case of deja-vu for the Polish judoka as Reid registered a waza-ari score in the opening minute of the contest before picking up two shidos. The final 30-seconds the Polish judoka attacked looking for a score or trying to force Reid to concede a third shido, but Reid countered an attack for a second waza-ari as the contest clock reached zero.

In the semi-final, Reid faced number one seed Anna-Maria Wagner (GER) who dominated from the opening exchange. The German registered two waza-ari scores in quick succession to book her place in the final, whilst Reid progressed to the bronze medal contest to face two-time Olympic medallist, former World Champion and current European Champion, Audrey Tcheumeo (FRA).

The French judoka exploded out of the blocks, threw Reid for a waza-ari score in the opening exchange, and quickly transitioned into an osaekomi hold down, pinning Reid. The French judoka looked destined to claim bronze as the clock neared the required 10 seconds. Reid overturned the osaekomi with barely a second remaining to then pin Tcheumo for 20 seconds and claim the bronze medal for herself, in dramatic fashion.

There was initial confusion around which judoka had won the bronze medal, but after a review, Reid was awarded the victory.

It rounds off a remarkable last three weeks for Reid who has won bronze medals at the Dushanbe Grand Slam, Kazakhstan Grand Slam and now the Abu Dhabi World Championships.

Kelly Petersen-Pollard and Mima Yeats-Brown were both in action in the -70kg category. Petersen-Pollard had an opening-round bye before facing Elvismar Rodriguez (VEN).

Meanwhile, Yeats-Brown overcame Melissa Myers (USA) in the opening round, the American fighter amassing three shidos to hand victory to the Yeats-Brown.

Petersen-Pollard overcame a cagey round two encounter against Rodriguez when the contest went to Golden-Score the Brit had two shidos to Rodriguez’s one, but two further shidos by the Venezuelan judoka saw Petersen-Pollard progress to the third round.

Yeats-Brown faced former World Champion Marie-Eve Gahie (FRA) in her round two contest. Sixth seed Gahie registered a waza-ari score in the opening exchanges before scoring an ippon as the contest passed the midway mark.

Petersen-Pollard took her third-round opponent, Irene Pedrotti (ITA), to Golden Score but was awarded a hansoku-make for a head dive.

In the opening round of the -90kg category, Jamal Petgrave was defeated by Donghan Gwak (KOR) after being awarded a third shido in Golden Score.

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