ST Helens judoka Lucy Renshall has won gold at the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam.

Following a silver medal at the Paris Grand Slam and gold at the Baku Grand Slam, Eccleston's Renshall entered the competition in the form of her life.

Seeded second, Renshall overcame a potentially tough second round contest against Kamila Badurova (RUS), following an opening round bye.

A Quarter-Final victory over Gili Sharir (ISR) via an arm lock in Golden Score meant Renshall topped her Pool.

In the Semi-Final Renshall found herself with 2 shidos as the contest entered Golden Score. In the first exchange Renshall threw Katharina Haecker (AUS) for waza-ari score and book her place in the final.

Renshall went a waza-ari score down at the half-way point of the contest to 2x World Junior Champion, Sanne Vermeer (NED), before evening the score in the final 15 seconds, a change of direction resulting in a waza-ari score to force Golden Score.

Renshall piled on the pressure with two strong attacks back-to-back which resulted in a second waza-ari score being awarded to the Brit, ending the contest, and ensuring she would return to the top step of a Grand Slam podium for the third time in 2021.

 

Renshall was quick to acknowledge the support of her coach following her third Grand Slam gold medal in 2021: “I'm really happy taking home the gold medal today and beating some good girls along the way.

"It's a great way to finish off the year!"“Thank you to British Judo, Jamie and UK Sport for supporting me at this event and all year.”