TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: 14-strong team set for World Championships, Tokyo, Japan
British Judo have today announced the final team that will compete at the Judo World Championships in Tokyo, Japan from 25-31st August.
The team consists of current World Championship silver medallist Nekoda Smythe-Davis ( -57kg) and Rio Olympic Games bronze medallist Sally Conway (-70kg).
2019 European Games silver and bronze medallists Alice Schlesinger (-63kg) and Chelsie Giles (-52kg) respectively, have also been selected in a strong British Judo team.
Following gold medals at the Budapest and Zagreb Grand Prix’s in July, Gemma Howell (-70kg) will head to Tokyo in fine form.
Following a bronze medal at the recent Budapest Grand Prix, Natalie Powell (-78kg) is rounding into form at a crucial time of the year and the former World Championship bronze medallist will be hoping for another strong performance out in Tokyo.
Recent Zagreb Grand Prix silver medallist Ashley McKenzie (-60kg) headlines a men’s team that includes 2019 European Games 5th and 7th placed players Frazer Chamberlain (-90kg) and Stuart McWatt (-81kg) respectively.
Following two 7th place finishes at the Montreal and Zagreb Grand Prix’s, Eric Ham (-73kg) will be making his senior World Championship debut alongside Chamberlain, Lele Nairne (-57kg) and Lucy Renshall (-63kg).
Sarah Adlington (+78kg) will be hoping to improve upon her 5th place finish at the 2018 World Championships while Max Stewart (-90kg) had a fantastic return to form at last weekend’s Zagreb Grand Prix, where he finished 5th, is also selected.
Following the team selection, Nigel Donohue, British Judo Performance Director said ‘Following the recent performances of the athletes, this is a very exciting team that we have selected for the World Championships. It is great to be able to select younger athletes like Eric (Ham), Stuart (McWatt) and Lele (Nairne) who we believe that exposure at this level will be of great benefit to their continued development. However, we have not selected them to just experience a World Championships as we expect them to be competitive and take this opportunity to showcase their potential, as they have shown in recent performances at Grand Prix’s and the European Games’.
The full team is as follows:
Men:
Ashley McKenzie (-60kg; Club: Camberley)
Eric Ham (-73kg; Glossop)
Stuart McWatt (-81kg; Garioch)
Frazer Chamberlain (-90kg; Camberley)
Max Stewart (-90kg; Stewart Judo Academy)
Women:
Chelsie Giles (-52kg; Coventry)
Nekoda Smythe-Davis (-57kg; Ealing)
Lele Nairne (-57kg; Bradley Stoke)
Lucy Renshall (-63kg; S.K.K)
Alice Schlesinger (-63kg; N/A)
Sally Conway (-70kg; Edinburgh)
Gemma Howell (-70kg; Wolverhampton)
Natalie Powell (-78kg; Irfon)
Sarah Adlington (+78kg; Edinburgh)
*Amy Livesey (-63kg; S.K.K) has been selected as a reserve
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