Great Britain returned from the 2011 Miami World Cup with three medals, two
golds from Sarah Clark (-63kg) and Karina Bryant (+78kg) and one bronze
earned by Sarah Adlington (+78kg).
British Judo's Head Coach Patrick Roux was pleased to see the British
results are on track ahead of the 2012 Olympic Games and said, "It is our
core strategy to have 10-12 GB players connected to this standard before the
preparations for the 2012 Olympics begin and we have 11 players who have won
medals at Olympic qualification events this season, so it is really good to
see we are meeting the standard to reach our goals in 2012.
"I am really pleased to see Sarah Clark and Karina Bryant coming back close
to their best results after overcoming injuries, which is never an easy
task. With experienced players coming back and young players like Sarah
Adlington also delivering medals at this level, it is a very good sign for
the World Championships in August and 2012 Olympic Games to see young and
experienced coming together."
Clark won the first medal on day one of competition showing "class and
experience" in the field, describes Kate Howey, British Judo's Lead
Development Coach our in Miami.
Much to the home crowd's disappointment, Clark beat Leilani Akiyama of the
USA in the first round, clocking up two yuko points and sealing the win with
ippon.
Clark's second fight was against World no. 19, Mariana Silva of Brazil.
Again the Brit scored two yuko points before winning the fight by ippon.
Progressing to the semi-final, Clark fought Serverine Nebie of Faso Burkina
and continued to show her experience, winning the fight again with two yuko
points and finally by ippon.
The -63kg final saw a showdown between Clark and Yarden Gerbi of Isreal, who
beat Clark in the 2011 European Championships earlier this year.
The fight went to the full five minutes with no scores on the clock and went
into golden score. Picking her moment carefully Clark defeated the Israeli
with a strangle hold, winning a well-deserved gold medal.
Clark said, "I am pleased with the result from today, it has given me the
confidence back that I can perform at this level.
"I have been progressing slowly this year after getting over a few injuries
and this has re-confirmed what I can do before the World Championships in
August.
"My training has been picking up and it's good to feel some things I have
been working on are transferring into my fights."
"I am looking forward to the World Championships; it is a big one before the
Games in 2012, and psychologically I feel I am back on track."
Karina Bryant sealed her first result since coming back from a neck injury
in a gold medal on the second day of competition.
With a bye in the first round and a swift ippon win in the second against
Larisa Ceric (BIH), Bryant faced Huanyuan Liu of China, currently ranked
World no.8.
Liu, 2011 Paris Grand Slam bronze medallist, lead the fight by two yuko
points, but Bryant kept the pressure on and won by ippon.
Progressing to the semi-final, Bryant overcame Melissa Mojica of Puerto Rico
with two waza-ari's and a yuko.
The final saw Bryant face Maria Suelem Altheman of Brazil, who sits just
above the Brit on the World ranking list in 20th place. After picking up a
penalty point against her, Bryant pushed on for an ippon win in under a
minute.
Making her way home, Bryant said, "I am really pleased with the result; it
was a much harder competition than I thought it was going to be. There were
a lot of top players there so it was quite daunting, but I got stuck in
there and it was a good test for me.
"I used this event to see where I am at with my injury and I feel I am ready
to take the next step in my rehabilitation programme.
"It has been hard for the last 6 month doing rehab and it's frustrating not
being able to go to all the camps and competitions, but I have to take it
step by step and keep on top of it now."
Elsewhere in the +78kg weight category, Sarah Adlington overcame some of the
World's top players to earn a bronze medal, including current Baku Grand
Prix Champion, Tea Donguzashvili of Russia, who is currently ranked 16
places higher on the IJF World Ranking List.
The fourth player in the British line-up was 21-year-old Gemma Howell who
suffered a tough draw against Isabel Fernandez of Spain in the -57kg weight
category.
Commenting on Howell's performance, Howey said, "Gemma lost her fight
against Fernandez after golden score by a split decision, so it was really
close."
"She is still a young player gaining experience against big opponents who
are a lot more experienced but she is making improvements every fight and
not making it easy for them," Howey added.
