Gemma Howell wins Qingdao Grand Prix bronze

London 2012 Olympian Gemma Howell has captured her second Grand Prix medal of the year having clinched bronze in Qingdao.

Howell, 22, who took bronze at the Baku Grand Prix in May, showed her quality as she defeated Brazil’s reigning world silver medallist Rafaela Silva by two yuko scores in her opening bout.

The Bath-based judoka followed up with a win over China’s Wen Zhang by ippon to book a place in the semi-final.

German Martyna Trajdos edged Howell out by a waza-ari which saw the British fighter automatically take bronze as no repechage system is in effect at Grand Prix events.

The result sees Howell move up to 15^th in the world as she continues to make waves in the -63kg category since moving up from -57kg in April.

Tom Davis, Colin Oates and Natalie Powell all finished in fifth-place while Ashley McKenzie lost his first contest to Mongolia’s eventual gold medallist Kherlen Ganbold.