Acelya Toprak Takes Bronze as GB Shine in Guadalajara and Riga

This weekend saw GB squads head to Mexico for the Guadalajara Grand Prix and to Latvia for the Riga Cadet European Cup, with some strong results picked up at both events!

Acelya Toprak (Camberley JC) produced GB’s standout performance of the weekend, claiming an impressive bronze medal in the -57kg category at the Guadalajara Grand Prix as she continues the extraordinary form she has shown of late.

Toprak made a dominant start, winning her Round of 16 contest in under two minutes before stepping up a gear to throw her quarter-final opponent for ippon in just over a minute. Unfortunately, the semi-final didn’t go her way, as she lost out to the eventual gold medallist. However, she bounced back strongly in the final block to secure the bronze medal.

This result follows her 5th-place finish at the Lima Grand Prix last week and a silver medal at the Tallinn European Open earlier this year, demonstrating her impressive progression and growing consistency on the international stage.

Charlie Young (Ryecroft JC) delivered a strong 5th-place finish in Mexico, marking his best Grand Prix result of the year and a clear improvement on last week’s Round of 16 performance in Lima.

Competing in the -66kg category, Young battled his way through to the quarter-finals before a narrow defeat saw him move into the repechage. He responded well, winning his next contest to book a place in the bronze medal match. Despite a tightly contested bout that went into golden score, the Ryecroft judoka narrowly missed out on a medal, finishing in 5th.

At the Riga Cadet European Cup in the -90kg category, Gheorghe Tataru (Palavani JC) claimed Great Britain’s only medal in Latvia, securing an outstanding silver medal, the first European Cup medal of his career.

Tataru performed excellently throughout the day, progressing from the Round of 32 all the way to the final. Despite narrowly missing out on gold, his performance marks a significant milestone in his judo career.

Also, a shoutout and thank you to Lisa Rivers, Dan Harris, and Natasha Maslen for their great work refereeing at the Riga Cadet European Cup.

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