Home nations continue judo dominance

England won three gold medals and Scotland one on day two of the Commonwealth Games judo in Glasgow.

In an all-English men's -81kg final, Owen Livesey beat Tom Reed, while Danny Williams (men's -73kg) and Megan Fletcher (women's -70kg) triumphed.

Scotland's Sarah Clark claimed victory in the women's -63kg final.

Home gold & bronze in women's 70kg judo

England's Katie-Jemima Yeats-Brown and Faith Pitman won bronze in the women's -63kg, while Scotland's Sally Conway did likewise in the women's -70kg.

St Helens fighter Livesey, 23, is a former rugby league player and thought about quitting judo after being overlooked for selection for the 2012 Olympics.

But he had too much for 28-year-old Reed, beating the Wiltshire fighter by three penalties to two in the final contest of the evening.

"It's good to beat someone from home," said Livesey. "There's a bit of tension there because you know each other so well.

"I had a year out when I was 18 and didn't really care about judo. but I came back, got my head in and got the result.

"You get out what you put in. And I got out exactly what I put in."

Gold: Owen Livesey (England), Danny Williams (England), Megan Fletcher (England), Sarah Clark (Scotland)

Bronze: Katie-Jemima Yeats-Brown (England), Faith Pitman (England), Sally Conway (Scotland)

Williams, 25, beat New Zealand's Adrian Leat in his final, the Shrewsbury fighter having only won selection for his first Commonwealth Games because of a late injury to Ben Fletcher, younger brother of Megan.

Bath's Fletcher, 24, beat New Zealand's Moira de Villiers by ippon in her final, having eliminated Scottish gold medal hope Sally Conway on Thursday.

"I beat the British number one in the semi-final and that was an amazing performance and I was so emotional after that," said Fletcher. "But to win gold as well, I don't think I've had a better day ever."

There are various ways of scoring points in judo, but throwing your opponent to the floor and pinning them down in submission, known as an ippon, is the best - automatically winning the bout.

All six of Scotland's competing judokas won a medal on Thursday, with sisters Kimberley and Louise Renicks both securing gold .

Livesey beats Reed to 81kg judo gold

And Clark, 36, kept that run going, forcing a submission from her opponent to add Commonwealth gold to the European title she won in 2006.

It is likely to be Clark's last competitive contest, after a career that included appearances at three Olympic Games and a Commonwealth silver in Manchester in 2002.

Yeats-Brown defeated Canada's Beatrice Valois in her bronze medal contest, before Pitman beat Australia's Katharina Haecker.

Tonbridge's Yeats-Brown, 19, was only registered for the England team two hours before the deadline after replacing the injured Caroline Kinnane and competed in borrowed kit.

Edinburgh's Conway will take some consolation from her victory over India's Sunibala Huidrom, who received two penalties, in the bronze-medal match.

Elsewhere, there was disappointment for Scotland's Patrick Dawson and Northern Ireland's Eoin Fleming in the men's -73kg category.

Dawson, 25, missed out on a medal when he lost by ippon to Australia's Jake Bensted after only 20 seconds, while the 19-year-old Fleming went down to South Africa's Jacques van Zyl in his bronze medal contest.

Wezeu Dombeu's silver was Cameroon's first medal of the Games, while Boas Munyonga's bronze in the men's -81kg opened Zambia's account.

Danny Williams (left) England's Danny Williams won gold in the men's -73kg

Owen Livesey in action against Tom Reed in the men's -81kg judo final Camberley judoka Livesey almost quit the sport after missing out on the squad for London 2012

Sarah Clark "That is what I came here to do and I have come out with the result I wanted," said a delighted Clark

Megan Fletcher after beating New Zealand's Moira de Villiers in the women's -70kg Part-time geography teacher Fletcher beat Conway en route to winning gold in the women's -70kg


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