Announcements

ESTONIA proved to be a happy hunting ground for two St Helens judoka as Lucy Renshall and Bekky Livesey came away with medals at the Tallinn European Open on Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 September.

The duo, who train at the British Judo Centre of Excellence, were competing in the first European world-ranking event after the 2016 Rio Olympic Games

Lucy Renshall’s gold at -63kg was her second senior Continental Open medal after a bronze in Lisbon last year.

The 2015 Junior European champion was too strong for Geke Van Den Berg (NED) as she went ahead by waza-ari before an ippon score ended the contest. Israel’s Rotem Shor was next up and Renshall found herself down on shidos before scoring a late yuko in the final minute to secure passage into the semi-finals.

There she faced Belarussian Daniela Kazanoi and in another tight contest the British judoka came out on top with a single yuko proving the difference.

Austria’s Magdalena Krssakova stood in Renshall’s way and this time a waza-ari to the British judoka ensured she picked up her maiden senior international title.

Bekky Livesey (-57kg) picked up her second Continental medal of the year after bronze in Madrid, as some strong performances during the day saw her come away with a well-deserved silver medal. Livesey came through her first two contests with Margriet Bergstra (NED) and Anna Borowska (POL) with minimal fuss including a 37 second win over the Polish fighter.

Her semi-final with Israel’s Adi Grossman was a very tactical affair with neither judoka able to get on the scoreboard at the end of regulation time.

In golden score Livesey’s superior contest management saw Grossman pick up a shido putting the British judoka into the final.

Amelie Stoll (GER) was her opponent in the final and the German’s impressive newaza was decisive as Livesey was forced to tap out leaving her with the silver medal.

Renshall and Livesey will next be in action at the Zagreb Grand Prix on 23-25 September and the Glasgow European Open on Saturday 15 October.