Top-five finish for Megan Fletcher and good wins for Prisca Awiti-Alcaraz as Team Bath judoka impress at World Championships
Megan Fletcher narrowly missed out on a podium place in her last World Judo Championships as both she and fellow Team Bath judoka Prisca-Awiti Alcaraz impressed at the last major competition before the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Fletcher, representing Ireland, was in fantastic form throughout Thursday’s -70kg competition in Budapest and recorded victories over South Africa’s Anastasiya-Alexandra Nenova and Barbara Timo of Portugal to reach the quarter-finals.
Sanne Van Dijke of the Netherlands had the edge in their meeting but Fletcher regrouped and won her repechage contest with top-ten ranked Maria Portela of Brazil to set up a bronze-medal showdown with Austria’s Michaela Polleres.
There was little to separate them during a close-fought contest but Polleres countered with a waza-ari in the last minute before sealing victory with ippon, meaning a fifth-placed finish overall for Fletcher.
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Cheering her on throughout the competition was training partner Awiti-Alcaraz, who had narrowly missed out on a last-eight place in the -63kg category the day before.
The University of Bath Sports Performance alumna, who represents Mexico, recorded excellent victories in her opening two fights against Kenya’s Shagilah Ramadhan and Estefania Garcia of Ecuador before she was edged out by Venezuela’s Anriquelis Barrios, who went on to finish fifth.
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Both Fletcher and Awiti-Alcaraz are now waiting on the final Olympic qualifying list to be published later this month but their performances in Budapest should have sealed their places in Tokyo.
Click here to find out more about judo at Team Bath.
Top picture credit: Sabau Gabriela/IJF
