Author: British Judo
On the final day of the Birmingham Junior European Cup, Charlotte Jenman (Tonbridge JC) topped the podium to secure her first gold medal on the Junior European tour.
The -52kg 2022 Cadet European Championship bronze medallist entered as the number one seed and certainly lived up to that ranking as she overcame Emma Van Leeuwen (NED) following an opening-round bye, to book her place in the quarter-finals.
A semi-final victory against Larissa Sickinger (AUT) secured Jenman’s place in her second Junior European Cup final to face Paula Beorlegui-Oses (ESP).
Jenman made light work of the final, claiming the gold in under 60-seconds as she threw her opponent for ippon score to add gold to the silver medal she won in Kaunas last month and ensured the home crowd would hear the national anthem at the inaugural Birmingham Junior European Cup.
There was a bronze medal for Ammi Takahashi (Ealing JC) in the -57kg category. Takahashi overcame Liana Morello (USA), after an opening round bye, before defeat in the quarter-final to Maylis Rozan (FRA) progressed her to the repechage where victories over Sarah Smith (Destination Judo) and Faye Hensen (NED) secured her place in the bronze medal contest to face Verena Hiden (AUT).
With nothing between the pair, the contest entered Golden Score where Takahashi secured the bronze medal with an osaekomi hold-down for waza-ari score.
There was also a bronze medal for Daniel Ede (Westcroft) in the +100kg category as he overcame clubmate James Weller-Henry in the bronze medal contest.
In the other +100kg bronze medal contest Daniel Young (Craven Judo Academy)was defeated by Sami Ramdani (FRA), meaning both Weller-Henry and Young had to settle for 5th.
Also, in the -52kg category was Maddy Birri (Ealing JC), who was aiming for her first Junior European Cup podium following two fifth-place finishes in 2023.
Birri topped her Pool thanks to a quarter-final victory against Glen Warners (NED) before a semi-final defeat to Beorlegui-Oses saw her progress to the bronze medal contest to face Renske Wekking (NED).
Birri took her opponent to Golden Score, but a waza-ari score to Wekking meant the young Brit had to settle for a third 5th place finish on the Junior European Tour.
There was also a 5th place finish for Sunny Doig (Just Judo) and Gregor Miller (Tayside JC) in the -57kg and -100kg categories, respectively.
Doig came through the Repechage to face Mirthe Van Kerkhof (NED) in the Bronze medal contest but was thrown for ippon score early in the contest.
Meanwhile, fellow Scottish judoka, Miller, went a waza-ari score down early in the bronze contest, against Timon Riemens (NED), before levelling the score with 90 seconds remaining. As the contest, entered the final 30 seconds Miller had a reprieve as a Riemens score was waved off, but the Dutch judoka secured bronze with a waza-ari score in the following exchange.
There were 7th place finishes for Luke Austen (Core Judo Academy) and Rachael Gray (Destination Judo) in the -90kg and -48kg categories, respectively.
Judoka
Author: Thea Cowen