Multiple World and European medallists set for Sarajevo European Open

This weekend sees Bosnia and Herzegovina stage the Sarajevo European Open with 320 judoka due to compete.

A GB Judo squad of 35 judoka will compete in what is the largest team to compete at a continental competition since judo resumed post the enforced competition break for Covid.

With the IJF World Tour also restarting next week following the Olympic Games, a number of judoka will compete in Sarajevo ahead of the Zagreb Grand Prix.

There is a wide range of experience in the GB Judo team with European and World medallists joined by fighters making their senior GB continental tour debuts.

Saturday

The -60kg and -66kg categories contain the most British interest with 6 judoka competing in each weight category.

David Ferguson, Dylan Munro, Nordine Adrif, Daniel Rabbitt, Josh Giles and Joshua Shipp all compete in the -60kg category.

Giles had a breakthrough 2019 which saw him claim bronze at the Paks Junior European Cup before representing GB Judo at the World and European Junior Championships. He finished 5^th earlier this year at the Prague European Open and enters as 2^nd seed.

Ferguson finished 7^th at the Tallinn European Open in 2019, a result that was matched by Munro at the Zagreb European Open earlier this year.

Rabbitt is a former European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) and European Cadet Championship representative and finished 7^th at the Malaga Junior European Cup in 2019.

Shipp meanwhile makes his senior GB debut on the European circuit.

The -66kg category is led by Gregg Varey who is joined by Alexander Short, Michael Fryer, Charlie Young, Scott Thompson and Alexander Rijksen-Salman.

Varey, who is seeded 3^rd, had a great start to the year, finishing 7^th at the Antalya Grand Slam in what was the best result of his career to date.

Short is a European U23 Championship representative and finished 5^th at the Malaga European Cup in 2019, meanwhile Fryer finished 7^th at the Malaga Junior European Cup in the same year.

Young competes having recently competed at the Junior European Championships and has the Junior World Championships coming up next month.

Thompson picked up back-to-back bronze medals in 2019 at the Celje-Podcetrtek European Cup and Cluj-Napoca European Open.

Meanwhile, A. Rijksen-Salman makes his senior GB debut on the European circuit having competed in the cadet ranks in 2019.

Eric Ham is joined by Daniel Powell, Ethan Nairne and Josef Lynch in the -73kg category.

Ham, who is seeded 2^nd, last competed at the Antalya Grand Slam in April, having returned from injury earlier in the year. Ham will be one of the judoka that will also compete at the Zagreb Grand Prix next weekend along with Powell.

E. Nairne is another judoka making his senior GB debut, the junior fighter competed at the EYOF and Cadet European Championships in 2019.

5^th seed and 2017 EYOF champion Amy Platten is joined by GB Judo debutant Elizabeth Cheminais in the -48kg category. Whilst Chloe Robynslandricombe and Cadet European Championship representative Kirsty Marsh compete in the -52kg category.

Robynslandricombe is seeded 6^th whilst Marsh is seeded 8^th.

The -57kg competition is loaded with European medallists. European U23 silver medallist Lele Nairne is joined by EYOF bronze and multiple European Junior Cup medallist Josie Steele. Junior European Championship silver medallist Acelya Toprak also competes along with Junior European Championship bronze medallist Bekky Livesey.

Toprak goes into the competition as the top ranked GB Judo fighter and is seeded 4^th.

Sunday

European Junior Championship bronze medallist Lachlan Moorhead competes in the -81kg category. Moorhead, seeded 4^th, will compete alongside Louis Delsol.

European U23 Championship silver medallist Jamal Petgrave is seeded 7^th and is joined by two senior GB judo debutants, Christopher Kumesu-Egri and Ryan Rijksen-Salman in the -90kg category.

Harry Lovell-Hewitt competes in the -100kg category having recently been in Tokyo as a training partner to the Olympic team. He is joined by Oliver Barratt and Max Gregory who both recently represented GB Judo at the European Junior Championships; both judoka will also compete at the World Junior Championships next month.

Lovell-Hewitt is seeded 5^th, whilst Barratt is seeded 7^th.

2019 European Junior Champion Kelly Petersen-Pollard is joined by Jemima Yeats-Brown in the -70kg competition. Both judoka will also compete at the Zagreb Grand Prix next weekend.

Number 1 seed, Petersen-Pollard won gold at the Odivelas European Open in 2020 before finishing 7^th in her Grand Slam debut earlier this year in Tel Aviv. Meanwhile, 3^rd seed, Yeats-Brown is a Commonwealth Games bronze medallist, European U23 Championship silver medallist and World Junior bronze medallist – in addition to winning multiple Grand Slam and Grand Prix medals.

Emma Reid is the sole representative in the -78kg category. Reid is the number one seed and will be looking to add to the multiple European Open medals she has won of late; the most recent coming in Prague earlier this year when she won bronze.

Preliminary rounds are due to start at 8am (BST) each day with Final Block to follow shortly afterwards.

British Judo will bring you a full round up of how the team perform on Monday

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