Nekoda Smythe-Davis Shines Gold in Brazil

On Sunday, Nekoda Smythe-Davis (-57kg) won only her second Grand Slam gold medal when she topped the podium at the Brasilia Grand Slam in Brazil.

Smythe-Davis, the 2018 World Championship silver medallist, was seeded top of her Pool and defeated Tamires Crude (BRA) and Telma Monteiro (POR) to progress to the semi finals and face Theresa Stoll (GER).

It took over 3 minutes and 45 seconds of Golden Score to find a winner of the semi final between Smythe-Davis and Stoll. Stoll, a double European Championship silver medallist and a player who is ranked world number 6, two places higher than Smythe-Davis, fought well but it was the Briton who progressed to the final to face home athlete and the 2018 Pan American Junior Champion, Ketelyn Nascimento (BRA).

The final was another match where the two players could not be separated after the allocated 4 minutes. Smythe-Davis battled hard, and with the Golden Score timer passing the 90 second mark, she scored an Osoto-Gari to defeat her opponent and claim the gold.

Today Amy Livesey (-63kg) and Gemma Howell (-70kg) compete. Both have opening round byes in their respective weight categories. On Tuesday attention turns to Natalie Powell (-78kg), Frazer Chamberlain (-90kg) and Max Stewart (-90kg).