Announcements

ST HELENS judoka Lucy Renshall won her second European Open of the year as she took home gold at the 2016 Glasgow European Open on Saturday 15 October at the Emirates Arena.

Renshall looked in fine form at -63kg throughout the day displaying a good range of judo scoring with throws and in newaza (groundwork) to add to her gold at the 2016 Tallinn European Open and bronze at the Lisbon European Open last year.

The SKK judoka, who now trains at the British Judo Centre of Excellence, started her day with a good win over Canada’s Emily Burt as she threw her for waza-ari and while also looking comfortable in defence.

Her quarter-final with Yanka Pascoalino (BRA) was a tighter affair with only a single yuko separating the two judoka however her semi-final against Cristina Cabana Perez (SPA) was a more dominant victory as Renshall went ahead by yuko before some great groundwork forced her opponent to tap out.

Nadja Bazynski stood in her way for gold with the German having beaten Renshall’s teammate Lubjana Piovesana and top seed Magdalena Krssakova (AUT) on her way to the final.

Renshall yet again looked the more dominant fighter as she drove her opponent to the ground for waza-ari before securing the hold down for 15 seconds to complete the win.

Speaking afterwards Renshall said: “I felt really good today. I felt really relaxed. Last month in Croatia (at the Zagreb Grand Prix) I didn’t feel good at all so I knew I had to perform here and I felt really relaxed.”

She also highlighted the support of the 1500-plus crowd and her improved newaza as playing an important part in her performance during the day.

Saturday’s result has also moved the 20-year-old up to 50 in the world rankings, making her the second highest ranked British -63kg fighter in the world.

Renshall will next be in action at the 2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Slam from 28-30 October.