GB Judo Weekend Preview: 01 – 02 September 2018

Slovakia and the Dominican Republic are the destinations this weekend for GB Judo with 15 judoka fighting at the Bratislava Senior European Cup and Santo Domingo PanAmerican Open on Saturday 1 and Sunday 2 September.

It’s a youthful British team in Slovakia with the majority still early on in their senior careers.

Lele Nairne (-57kg) and Stuart McWatt (-81kg) have both tasted success at Senior European Cups this year. Nairne won bronze in Orenburg while McWatt won gold in Saarbrucken.

McWatt will also be using the event in Slovakia as a final warm-up ahead of his World Championships debut in Baku next month.

Jodie Caller (-57kg) continues her return from injury in Bratislava. The Wolverhampton Uni judoka won gold last time out at the European University Games in Coimbra.

-60kg judoka Neil MacDonald will be fighting for just the second time in 2018 and the dynamic fighter will be one to watch on the first day of competition.

Day two will see -90kg duo Del Imrie and James Reid taking on a strong field that includes world-class opposition in the form of Georgia’s Beka Gviniashvili and Avtandili Tchrikishvili.

There are strong fighters at -78kg as well including Bernadette Graf (AUT) and former Junior World champion Brigita Ljuba (CRO).  For GB, Redbridge’s Emma Reid is aiming for her first win since May.

Find the full GB Squad here

The Hawkes sisters, Rachael and Sarah, are both looking to secure medal rostrum finishes in the Dominican Republic.

Rachael, who fights at -70kg, has had some international success in 2018, winning silver at the Sarajevo Senior European Cup in May.

+78kg judoka Sarah finished seventh last time out at the Madrid European Open and she will be aiming to improve on that in Santo Domingo.

Competition in Slovakia starts at 0900 UK time on both days with the final block starting at 1515 and 1500 UK time respectively.

Find the full draws on ippon.org and visit eju.net for any live streams. Follow @BritishJudo on Twitter for end of day medal updates