Road to Paris: GB Judo Team Progress

[Rafa Maciel 1,594]

We're rapidly approaching the conclusion of the first qualification period for the judo team so thought it would be good idea to take stock of progress. 

 

 

Men's 60Kg: (Target Total* - 2360)

4 active judokas with 2 worth watching:

 

Samuel Hall - (Points Total: 295) Should be a strong bet for qualification given his world ranking of 39 but so far he has only competed twice in this weight class during the qualification window. Not sure if he is injured or is looking to make a late push for points. I am assuming he's not injured as he has competed 3 times in the 66Kg weight division. He is currently listed as taking part in the Antalya GS next month but that could still change. At the moment, he is around 220-230 points adrift of direct qualification spot.

 

Qualification Ranking: 46 

Adjusted Ranking: 22

 

Joshua Giles - (Points Total: 135) Has competed in 6 events so far at the Continental Open and Grand Prix level. His best result was runner-up at the Cluj-Napoca European Open and last 16 at the Portugal GP. His next discard score will be 3 points so plenty of room for him to improve but would be good to see him in Grand Slam action if he is looking to make serious attempt to qualify for Paris.

 

Qualification Ranking: 74

Adjusted Ranking: 36

 

 

Men's 66Kg: (Target Total* - 2390)

7 active judokas:

 

Michael Fryer - (Points Total: 313) With a world ranking of 70, he has competed 6 times so far including at Grand Slam level. Has struggled to make it passed first round unfortunately. His best result came at the Perth Open where he finished 3rd. His next discard score will be 5 points he has a good chance of being able to increase that score before the end of the first qualification period. Currently around 300 points short of direct qualification. 

 

Qualification Ranking: 49

Adjusted Ranking: 26

 

Charlie Young - (Points Total: 188) Has competed in 5 events - although no Grand Slams so far. That could change next month as he is listed as entrant for Antalya GS. He won the Rome European Open and has a couple of last 16 appearances at Grand Prix level but would need a big step up in performance if he is to make it to Paris.

 

Qualification Ranking: 68

Adjusted Ranking: 36

 

 

Men's 73Kg: (Target Total* - 2790)

 

Eric Ham - (Points Total - 418) Has competed in 10 events but hasn't really made huge impact with 3 events where he has failed to win his first bout so came away with just participation points. His best result so far has been a 3rd place finish at the Perth Open. His next discount score will be 18 and he is scheduled to take part in Antalya. If he can get through his first bout, then he will be able to build his score but he needs a decent/lucky draw for that to happen. He needs around 220 points to make it to direct qualification spot. 

 

Qualification Ranking: 35

Adjusted Ranking: 26

 

 

Men's 81Kg: (Target Total* - 2650)

 

Lachlan Moorhead - (Points Total: 696) If there was a prize for the most frustrating performer in the GB Judo Team, I'd think it would go to Moorhead. On his day, he can be great, but he has been very inconsistent. He has a world ranking of 25 - the highest for any of our male judoka. He's competed in 13 events so far and whilst he has picked up a couple of 3rd places at GP level and banked some good points at Worlds and Masters, he has also failed to win his first bout on 3 occasions. His next discount score is 60, so in order to move his score up, he is going to need to get to last 16 of Antalya GS next month. Despite all that, IJF currently have Moorhead down as a Continental Quota and he is about 40 points shy of the last direct qualification spot. 

 

Qualification Ranking: 23

Adjusted Ranking: 19

 

 

Men's 90Kg: (Target Total* - 2950)

 

Jamal Petgrave - (Points Total: 645) Like Moorhead, Petgrave has racked up a lot of competition during the qualification window with 12 tournaments entered. His best result has been a couple of 3rd places. On the upside, he generally wins his first bout - he's only failed to do so once in the qualification window - but the downside is that he generally bows out in the round of 32 or round of 16 of the big tournaments so hasn't been able to drive his score forward. His next discount score will be 60 so he will need to get to last 16 of Antalya to increase his points total and even then it would only be an increase of 20 points. Unfortunately, Petgrave has just slipped out of direct qualification following results at Tblisi

 

Qualification Ranking: 23

Adjusted Ranking: 19

 

 

Men's 100Kg: (Target Total* - 2400)

 

Rhys Thompson - (Points Total: 381) Thompson has barely won a match during the qualification window. He's competed in 8 tournaments so far and has lost his opening bout on 5 occasions. In 2 tournaments he won 1 match and then lost. His score is pretty much entirely down to his victory at the Perth Open where he picked up 350 points. His next couple of discard scores will be 5 points so if he could string a couple of good results together we could see him make some progress on his qualification score. Thompson is currently around 300 points outside of direct qualification. 

 

Qualification Ranking: 36

Adjusted Ranking: 28

 

Harry Lovell-Hewitt - (Points Total: 236) Lovell-Hewitt has competed in 6 tournaments and has had some decent results at the European Open level after claiming runner-up spot in both Rome and Sofia. At Grand Slam level, he has been fairly consistent in getting through to the round of 16. He has a couple of 3 pointers that will be his next discard and he is due to compete in Antalya next month so we could see his points total moving towards 300 figure but it will still leave him well short of direct qualification spots. 

 

Qualification Ranking: 49

Adjusted Ranking: 34

 

 

Men's +100Kg: (Target Total* - 2300)

 

Wesley Greenidge - (Points Total: 41) Has competed in 4 events and lost opening bout in 2 tournaments. When he does get through the first round he tends to perform not too bad with a third place finish in Warsaw and a 7th place in Cluj-Napoca European Open. 

 

Qualification Ranking: 97

Adjusted Ranking: 54

 

 

 

 

Women's 48Kg: (Target Total* - 2250)

 

Amy Platten - (Points Total: 318) Has competed in 8 events across Continental Open, GP and GS level. Seems to struggle at the bigger tournaments - she hasn't won a match at GP or GS level in 4 attempts however at the continental level, she has a couple of third places. The majority of her points total comes from being runner up at the Perth Open. She is about 200 points shy of direct qualification. 

 

Qualification Ranking: 43

Adjusted Ranking: 27

 

Women's 52Kg: (Target Total* - 2780)

 

Chelsie Giles - (Points Total: 2185) Don't think I am putting my neck out too far by saying Giles is probably the first of our nailed on certain qualifiers. Currently ranking 1 in the world. She's competed 5 times within the window - her only blip was a first round defeat at the Hungary grand slam, but since then, she has won both the Tel Aviv grand slam and Portugal grand prix, was runner up at the Masters and at World Champs. She's next up at Antalya so expect her points total to take another jump next month.

 

Qualification Ranking: 3

Adjusted Ranking: 3

 

 

Women's 52Kg: (Target Total* - 2780)

Probably our most competitive weight class with 3 judoka in the race for qualification.

 

Lele Nairne - (Points Total: 979) Wasn't a name I was familiar with before this year, but she has competed in 8 events and has racked up some decent performances - runner up at the Perth Open, 7th place at the Masters and 5th place at Baku GS. She is currently in a direct qualification spot 

 

Qualification Ranking: 14

Adjusted Ranking: 13

 

Nekoda Smythe-Davis - (Points Total: 570) Missed the Tokyo Olympics due to pregnancy, is quickly becoming poster girl for mums returning to sport. Has entered 6 events and has won the Riccione Open, was third at Portugal GP and has a couple of 7th places at GS level. She is due to take part in the Antalya GS next month and her discount score will be a 5. So assuming she can get through her first bout, she has a good chance to increase her points total. 200 points needed to get into a direct qualification spot.

 

Qualification Ranking: 29

Adjusted Ranking: 21

 

Acelya Toprak - (Points Total: 495) When the qualification window opened, Toprak was the highest ranked GBR judoka in this weight division but she seems to have been eclipsed by both Nairne and Smythe-Davis. She has competed 8 times and has lost her opening match on 5 occasions. Her points total in largely driven by runner up spot at Perth Open and she also had a 7th place finish at Abu Dhabi GS. The good news for her is that she has plenty of low value discount scores available so if she can get a decent result at Antalya GS, her score will begin to move forward.

 

Qualification Ranking: 31

Adjusted Ranking: 23

 

 

Women's 63Kg: (Target Total* - 2480)

 

Lucy Renshall - (Points Total: 1924) The second of our nailed on certainties for qualification, Renshall will return to world number 1 this week after victory at Tiblisi GS. She has competed in 7 events during the qualification window and has 2 gold and a bronze medal at grand slam level along with 7th place finishes at both World Champs and Masters. Her only blip was a 1st round loss at Paris GS which is her current discard score. Will be difficult - but not impossible - for her score to increase too much further. Her next discount score is 180 so she would need to get 5th place at Antalya to move her score forward. 

 

Qualification Ranking: 3

Adjusted Ranking: 3

 

 

Women's 70Kg: (Target Total* - 3020)

 

Katie Jemima Yeats-Brown - (Points Total: 761) Has competed in 8 events with a bronze medals at both Abu Dhabi GS and the Perth Open. More recently, she's got to the round of 16 at both Tel Aviv and Tblisi grand slams. Her next discard score is 56, so she will need to reach last 16 at Antalya if her score is to improve. She is currently in a direct qualification spot but has been dropping down the rankings recently.

 

Qualification Ranking: 18

Adjusted Ranking: 17

 

Kelley Petersen Pollard - (Points Total: 726)  Has been in a close battle with Yeats-Brown for bragging rights in this weight class. Has competed in 9 events, but has reached the podium as yet. Her best results being a couple of 5th places at grand slam level. Like Yeats-Brown, her next discard score will be 56 and the pair will resume rivalry at the Antalya GS next month. 

 

Qualification Ranking: 20

Adjusted Ranking: 18

 

 

Women's 78Kg: (Target Total* - 2330)

 

Natalie Powell - (Points Total: 1264) Ranked 13 in the world, Powell has competed in 9 events so far. Best result has been victory at Zagreb GP and runner-up at Abu Dhabi GS but equally, she has 3 events where she has lost in the first round. Her next discard score is 130 so will be difficult to push her score much higher. She is pretty well positioned for direct qualification. 

 

Qualification Ranking: 7

Adjusted Ranking: 7

 

Emma Reid - (Points Total: 650) Ranked 18 in the world, Reid hasn't been able to match the performances of Powell so far. Across 8 events, her best result is a bronze at the Portugal GP, and a 5th place at Hungary GS. Like Powell, she has also had 3 events where she has failed to progress beyond the first round. However, she does have a couple of low discard scores available to her, so assuming she can get through the first round at Antalya, she should be able to close the gap on Powell over the next few events. Were it not for the fact that Powell is higher ranked, then Reid would be comfortably in a direct qualification spot.

 

Qualification Ranking: 22

Adjusted Ranking: 15

 

 

Women's +78Kg: (Target Total* - 2480)

Haven't seen anything to suggest that Sarah Adlington has decided to continue after last year's Commonwealth Games which leaves this weight class pretty empty from a GB perspective.

 

 

(* Target Total is taken from Tokyo qualification list and represents the points total required for the last direct quota spot in each weight class.) 

 

Edited March 26, 2023 by Rafa Maciel

[Rafa Maciel 1,594]

Squad announced today for next month's World Champs in Doha... no major surprises although a couple of potential missed opportunities.

 

On the women's side:

 

48Kg - Amy Platten didn't make the cut. She was probably a bit unlucky not to get selected. She met 2 of the 4 criteria - top 45 of OQL and 2 European Open medals - but didn't get the nod.

 

52Kg - Chelsie Giles wasn't selected. Basically they think her qualification is pretty much in the bag so are choosing to prioritise the Masters tournament instead.

 

57Kg - Lele Nairne and Nekoda Smythe Davis both make the list leaving Acelya Toprak as a reserve. Smythe Davis got the nod given her stronger results at Grand Slam level so no real surprise. Looking forward to Nairne and Smythe Davis fighting it out for the GB No1 spot. 

 

63Kg - Lucy Renshall. Given that Giles is not going, I've got to assume that Renshall may have been given the option to skip as well because she is sitting pretty comfortable in the qualification list as we approach the end of the first period. 

 

70Kg - both Kelly Petersen-Pollard and Jemima Yeats-Brown will be there. At the moment, both are on the edge of automatic qualifying spot so both could benefit from a decent run.

 

78Kg - Emma Reid and Natalie Powell will both compete. Powell has slipped back in the rankings recently after a couple of disappointing results. Both will really benefit from a good run.

 

For the men:

 

60Kg - Samuel Hall is on the team but given he didn't meet the selection criteria I assume he was a discretionary selection. 

 

66Kg - Charlie Young was selected ahead of Michael Fryer. Young is ranked 20 places lower than Fryer in the OQL so not sure what the rationale was here

 

73Kg - No place on the team for Eric Ham which is a shame. He is ranked in the top 35 and isn't a million miles away from edging towards an automatic qualifying spot. 

 

81Kg - Lachlan Moorhead is on the team. Like the girls in the 70Kg, Moorhead is on the cusp of an auto qualifying spot so really hoping he can have a decent run and bank some points.

 

90Kg - Jamal Petgrave got the nod. He was in an automatic qualifying spot for so long but has fallen back more recently. Needs to get through a couple of rounds to bank the points.

 

100Kg - Harry Lovell-Hewitt got the nod over Rhys Thompson. Although Thompson is ranked higher than Lovell-Hewitt, his points total is pretty much down to a single result at the Perth Open whereas Lovell-Hewitt has medaled at 3 European Open events.

 

 

So 13 out of a possible 18 places filled although not actually sure whether Sam Hall will take his spot - he's been listed in so many events this year but never appears in the draw. Definitely think we should have taken Eric Ham in the 73Kg. I think there is a good chance that Moorhead and Petgrave could get auto qualifying spot which would mean we need someone in the 60Kg/66Kg/73Kg classes in order to be in the Olympic team event.

[Cinnamon Bun 890]

1 hour ago, Rafa Maciel said:

Squad announced today for next month's World Champs in Doha... no major surprises although a couple of potential missed opportunities.

 

On the women's side:

 

48Kg - Amy Platten didn't make the cut. She was probably a bit unlucky not to get selected. She met 2 of the 4 criteria - top 45 of OQL and 2 European Open medals - but didn't get the nod.

 

52Kg - Chelsie Giles wasn't selected. Basically they think her qualification is pretty much in the bag so are choosing to prioritise the Masters tournament instead.

 

57Kg - Lele Nairne and Nekoda Smythe Davis both make the list leaving Acelya Toprak as a reserve. Smythe Davis got the nod given her stronger results at Grand Slam level so no real surprise. Looking forward to Nairne and Smythe Davis fighting it out for the GB No1 spot. 

 

63Kg - Lucy Renshall. Given that Giles is not going, I've got to assume that Renshall may have been given the option to skip as well because she is sitting pretty comfortable in the qualification list as we approach the end of the first period. 

 

70Kg - both Kelly Petersen-Pollard and Jemima Yeats-Brown will be there. At the moment, both are on the edge of automatic qualifying spot so both could benefit from a decent run.

 

78Kg - Emma Reid and Natalie Powell will both compete. Powell has slipped back in the rankings recently after a couple of disappointing results. Both will really benefit from a good run.

 

For the men:

 

60Kg - Samuel Hall is on the team but given he didn't meet the selection criteria I assume he was a discretionary selection. 

 

66Kg - Charlie Young was selected ahead of Michael Fryer. Young is ranked 20 places lower than Fryer in the OQL so not sure what the rationale was here

 

73Kg - No place on the team for Eric Ham which is a shame. He is ranked in the top 35 and isn't a million miles away from edging towards an automatic qualifying spot. 

 

81Kg - Lachlan Moorhead is on the team. Like the girls in the 70Kg, Moorhead is on the cusp of an auto qualifying spot so really hoping he can have a decent run and bank some points.

 

90Kg - Jamal Petgrave got the nod. He was in an automatic qualifying spot for so long but has fallen back more recently. Needs to get through a couple of rounds to bank the points.

 

100Kg - Harry Lovell-Hewitt got the nod over Rhys Thompson. Although Thompson is ranked higher than Lovell-Hewitt, his points total is pretty much down to a single result at the Perth Open whereas Lovell-Hewitt has medaled at 3 European Open events.

 

 

So 13 out of a possible 18 places filled although not actually sure whether Sam Hall will take his spot - he's been listed in so many events this year but never appears in the draw. Definitely think we should have taken Eric Ham in the 73Kg. I think there is a good chance that Moorhead and Petgrave could get auto qualifying spot which would mean we need someone in the 60Kg/66Kg/73Kg classes in order to be in the Olympic team event.

Disappointed we didn't take Ham, I believe we were allowed to take a maximum of 14 so he must've rejected or been prioritised for other tournaments (assuming that Toprak counts towards the 14). In terms of Young over Fryer, they must think he has more potential than the latter and has more of a chance of reaching Paris. If Hall does indeed drop out I wonder if they'll put someone else in like Fryer or Platten or just leave the spot vacant. Either way I hope the decision to leave off some of the fringe athletes doesn't come back to bite us. 

[Rafa Maciel 1,594]

7 hours ago, Cinnamon Bun said:

 I believe we were allowed to take a maximum of 14....

France and Mongolia have already announced full strength squads of 18 and the GB selection policy said "each delegation may enter a maximum of 9 entries in total for men and 9 entries in total for women, and in each weight category of men or women, a maximum of 2 athletes can be entered."

 

So they absolutely could have taken Ham and Platten had they wanted to. 

[Cinnamon Bun 890]

32 minutes ago, Rafa Maciel said:

France and Mongolia have already announced full strength squads of 18 and the GB selection policy said "each delegation may enter a maximum of 9 entries in total for men and 9 entries in total for women, and in each weight category of men or women, a maximum of 2 athletes can be entered."

 

So they absolutely could have taken Ham and Platten had they wanted to. 

Maybe they were planning to and they just rejected or have been prioritised for other tournaments like Giles.  

[Rafa Maciel 1,594]

Interesting to see Sarah Adlington is due to return to competition next month - she's listed in both the Qazaqstan Baryst Grand Slam and Ulaanbaatar Grand Slam. Neither event has the strongest of fields announced so far so if she can get decent results in both, she could actually put herself into contention for an automatic qualifying spot - it would only take about 450 points to get into the top 17 in this weight division.

[Rafa Maciel 1,594]

And Sam Hall executes his disappearing act to perfection again - he's withdrawn from this weekend's Upper Austria Grand Prix. Now been 7 months since he last competed internationally in the 60Kg class 

[Rafa Maciel 1,594]

Biggest shock of the year so far - Sam Hall is actually still listed in the 60Kg draw for Dushanbe Grand Prix 

 

No all we need is for him to win the gold and propel himself into a qualifying position 

[Rafa Maciel 1,594]

Given the Masters events seems to be the 6th qualifying event in each period, it is pretty disappointing that it looks like we are only planning on sending 2 male athletes to the event - Lachlan Moorhead and Jamal Petgrave.

 

The fact that it is the usual suspects on the male side, speaks volumes about the lack of ambition within GB Judo right now. They could have and should have been targeting qualifying for the team event but it seems they will be happy if they can get just 1 male quota. 

[mpjmcevoy 362]

2 hours ago, Rafa Maciel said:

Given the Masters events seems to be the 6th qualifying event in each period, it is pretty disappointing that it looks like we are only planning on sending 2 male athletes to the event - Lachlan Moorhead and Jamal Petgrave.

 

The fact that it is the usual suspects on the male side, speaks volumes about the lack of ambition within GB Judo right now. They could have and should have been targeting qualifying for the team event but it seems they will be happy if they can get just 1 male quota. 

The talent just doesn't seem to be there. Despite its travails in Poland GB Boxing is still in a pretty good place. GB  Taekwondo is a wonder of the world, frankly. But GB Judo - a sport where GBR was a genuine global power in living memory, and where they can still field a pretty strong women's team, seems to have lost anything like an idea in the men's side.