Team Bath judoka Ben Fletcher recorded a second-successive seventh-placed finish when he competed at the Samsun Grand Prix in Turkey. The result gave the 24-year-old another 48 valuable points in his pursuit of Rio 2016 Olympic Games qualification, with just a handful of competitions remaining before the May 31 deadline. Fletcher, coached by Juergen Klinger at the University of Bath, saw his superior fitness come to the fore in his opening -100kg contest in Samsun as...
University of Bath student Gemma Howell won her first Grand Prix judo medal for two years after producing a string of excellent performances in Georgia. The Sport & Exercise Science student, competing in the -63kg weight division, beat judoka ranked 30, 20, eight and nine in the world on her way to a superb silver in the Tbilisi Grand Prix. “I’m really happy, this silver is the best senior medal I’ve won so far,” Howell...
There was an all Team Bath final at the 2015 British Judo Open, which took place in the SSE Arena, Wembley over the weekend. Gemma Howell and Megan Fletcher usually fight in different weight categories but both were entered in the -70kg competition this time. And both progressed to the final, where they produced – in the words of coach Juergen Klinger – “a fantastic fight, very open and very fast”. It went all the...
Team Bath Judo Club coach Juergen Klinger rued the “tactical mistakes” which contributed to early exits for Megan Fletcher, Ben Fletcher and Gemma Howell at the European Games in Baku, Azerbaijan. All three were in good positions in the fights they lost but went on to endure frustrating defeats. Commonwealth champion Megan Fletcher was up against Poland's Katarzyna Klys in their -70kg round-of-32 contest but lost out following a pair of yukos. “Megan got thrown...
Team Bath Judo Club’s Megan Fletcher says she is going into the European Games full of confidence after her gold-medal triumph at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. Fletcher is joined in Baku, Azerbaijan by brother Ben and Gemma Howell, who are all coached by Juergen Klinger at the University of Bath. And she is targeting another international medal as she pursues her ultimate ambition of qualifying for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. “If I can...
Team Bath Judo Club trio Ben Fletcher, Megan Fletcher and Gemma Howell have been named in a 153-strong Team GB squad for this summer’s inaugural European Games in Baku, Azerbaijan. Team GB will compete across 13 sports and 19 disciplines at Baku 2015 as 50 European nations come together for the continent’s first-ever major multi-sport event from June 12-28. The competition has even more significance for Team Bath’s judoka as it will also double as...
Team Bath Judo Club’s Gemma Howell made an encouraging return from injury by finishing fifth at the Samsun Grand Prix in Turkey. London 2012 Olympian Howell, who is coached by Juergen Klinger and former University of Bath student Kate Howey, won her pool in the under-63kg competition. Victories over Slovakia’s Ivana Komlosiova, Mia Hermansson of Sweden and Mongolia’s Munkhzaya Tsedevsuren set up a semi-final with Anicka Van Emden of the Netherlands. However, Howell – a...
