Two Further Fifth Place Finishes on Day 2 of Paris Grand Slam

GB Judo picked up a further two fifth placed finishes on the second and final day of the Paris Grand Slam, to add to the two 5th placed finishes on the opening day.

Emma Reid, who was making her Paris Grand Slam debut matched her performance at the Portugal Grand Slam, whilst Kelly Petersen-Pollard (featured image) matched her performance from the 2021 Paris Grand Slam.

Reid defeated Fatim Fofana (CIV) in the opening round, an armlock forcing her opponent to tap out. A quarter-final defeat to Audrey Tcheumo (FRA) followed meaning Reid progressed to the Repechage to face another French fighter, Fanny Estelle Posvite. Reid employed another armlock to force her opponent to tap out, meaning she booked her place in the bronze medal contest against recent Portugal Grand Prix bronze medallist Jeongyun Lee (KOR).

Reid picked up two shidos in the opening two minutes of the contest, meaning she had to attack to avoid picking up a third, contest ending, third shido. Lee scored a waza-ari with 1-minute of the contest remaining before throwing Reid for ippon score as the contest neared 40-seconds remaining.

Petersen-Pollard defeated Heeju Han (KOR) in the second round following some great groundwork in Golden Score, after an opening round bye. A narrow defeat to eventual silver medallist Saki Niizoe (JPN) followed, a waza-ari score in the opening 30-seconds enough to see the Japanese fighter progress.

A Repechage victory against Kaila Issoufi (FRA) by waza-ari score booked Petersen-Pollard’s place in the bronze medal contest against top seed, Barbara Matic (CRO).

The bronze medal match was unfortunately over after the first exchange. The experienced Matic throwing the young Brit inside the opening 30-seconds, a seo-nage for ippon score.

Mima Yeats-Brown defeated Sarah Maekelburg (GER) in the opening round before suffering defeat to top seed and eventual bronze medallist Matic in Round 2.