JUDO: COVENTRY judoka Chelsie Giles just missed out on a gold medal at the Leibnitz Junior European Cup in Austria at the weekend.
Giles lost a close final to Betina Temelkova – with the Israeli judoka proving to be an awkward customer.
The talented competitor, who currently trains at the British Judo Centre of Excellence, was unable to get into a rhythm and went behind by two waza-ari.
Despite this, the British talent was able to pressure her opponent into picking up three shidos which would have given her the contest.
However, the final shido was overturned by the commission leaving Giles with silver.
Going into the final the Coventry judoka had been very impressive winning each of her contests by ippon – starting with a dominant performance against Hungary’s Eszter Hajdu.
This continued against France’s Linda Grace Besnard and Spain’s Nina Estefania Esteo Linne in the quarter and semi-final.
Throughout the contest, Giles displayed a good mix of standing and groundwork judo in a professional performance before coming undone against Temelkova in the final.
