Natalie Powell Takes Bronze Medal In Germany

Natalie Powell hit back from her disappointment at the Paris Grand Slam to pick up a bronze medal at the Dusseldorf event to earn GB Judo their second medal.

The 2014 Commonwealth Games gold medallist reached No.1 status in the world in the 78kg category in December after striking gold in Abu Dhabi and went into the Dusseldorf Grand Slam at the ISS Dome as the top seed.

She received a bye in the opening round and was then in fine form throughout the day. She comfortably despatched her early round opponents, beating local favourite Maike Ziech in her opening contest.

The German provided a stern test for before Powell eventually picked up a third shido with a minute remaining on the clock. This set up a quarter-final clash with Russia’s Aleksandra Babintseva in a match that was fairly even until a moment of brilliance from Powell.

Both fighters spent the opening minute of the contest getting to grips with each other’s style of judo before Powell surprised Babintseva with a sudden change of pace resulting in an ippon finish.

Japanese rival Ruika Sato presented the challenge in the semi-finals, a judoka who had claimed three successive wins over Powell in their previous battles. Sato attempted to pull Powell to the mat on numerous occasions before spotting an opportunity and throwing for ippon.

That defeat meant Powell had to meet the world ranked No.8 judoka from the Netherlands, Karen Stevenson, in the bronze medal match. A tense contest was eventually settled by a single waza-ari score for Powell.

Her British team mate, Nekoda Smythe-Davis, struck gold on the first day of action.