The British judo team returned home from the first International Judo Federation (IJF) Grand Slam event with two 5th places.
The two day tournament, held in Paris, France, always draws the top judo names and one of the biggest judo crowds worldwide.
Britain took the opportunity to field some of their younger and more inexperienced judokas to give them some valuable fighting time in one of the most intimidating arenas of the lot.
In this respect it proved an interesting exercise, with some fighters clearly out of their depth and others relishing the chance.
The biggest success was Gemma Howell (Wolverhampton Judo Club), who medalled in the Junior European Championships and Junior World Championships last year. At just 18, Howell proved in Paris she can live with the best of the seniors too.
She overcame her first two opponents with ease in the -57kgs, before losing narrowly in the quarter-finals to Barbara Harel.
At -70kgs Sally Conway (Edinburgh Judo Club) also looked good, winning her first contest by Ippon, the maximum score. But despite dominating her quarter-final fight she threw it away at the end when France's Marie Pasquet countered her attack with three seconds to go.
The other British performances were less convincing, with Sophie Johnstone (-52kgs), Sarah Adlington (+78kgs)
