GB Judo Preview: 19 – 20 August 2017

A ten strong GB Judo team will be in action in Arad, Romania this weekend (19 – 20 August) for the final Junior European Cup of 2017.

Lubjana Piovesana (-63kg), Neil Macdonald (-60kg), Dan Powell (-73kg) and Eric Ham (-73kg) and Jamal Petgrave (-90kg) have all been selected for the Junior Europeans Championships in Slovenia next month and they will be using this weekend’s competition as part of their final preparation.

Petgrave has been one of the star performers for the GB Judo this year including gold medals at the Bremen International Masters and Berlin Junior European Cup. These results, as well as further European Cup medals in Coimbra, St Petersburg and Paks has seen him move into the world top 10 at -90kg.

Piovesana, pictured above, has also enjoyed a strong year with bronze medals at the Antalya and Cancun Grand Prix which have seen her move up to her current senior world ranking of 31. The Sutton Coldfield judoka has not fought as much on the junior circuit in 2017 though she did win silver at the International Thuringia Cup in March.

Jaime-leigh Whitaker (-44kg), Lele Nairne (-57kg), Kiera Bateman (-57kg), Olivia Spellman (-63kg) and Scott Thomson (-60kg) will be looking to gain more experienced at Junior European Cup level this weekend.

Nairne, has been close to medalling this year with fifth places finishes at the Paks and Berlin Junior European Cups having missed the start of 2017 due to a shoulder injury. Spellman and Thomson had strong Cadet careers and will be aiming to continue that transition in Arad.

Competition starts on both days at 0800 UK time (1000 Local Time) with live coverage via eju.net and ippon.org. Follow @BritishJudo on Twitter for end of day medal updates

Saturday, 19th of August Women: -44, -48, -52, -57 kg; Men: -55, -60, -66, -73 kg

Sunday, 20th of August Women: -63, -70, -78,+78 kg; Men: -81, -90, -100,+100 kg

	-60 kg		MACDONALD Neil
	-60 kg		THOMSON Scott
	-73 kg		HAM Eric
	-73 kg		POWELL Daniel
	-90 kg		PETGRAVE Jamal
	-44 kg		WHITAKER Jaime-leigh
	-57 kg		NAIRNE Lele
	-57 kg		BATEMAN Kiera
	-63 kg		PIOVESANA Lubjana
	-63 kg		SPELLMAN Olivia