Sport Writer Dan Hunt previews the Tbilisi Grand Slam, which will feature UB Sport Judo scholars Yasmin Javadian and Lachlan Moorhead
Two UBSport Scholars are heading to Tbilisi, Georgia with British Judo as part of the 2021 Grand Slam.
Dentistry student Yasmin Javadian and Business Management student Lachlan Moorhead will join 18 other representatives from Great Britain for the competition in Georgia, where a total of 517 judoka from 84 countries will be competing.
The Grand Slam has been arranged by the Georgian Judo Federation and is recognised by the International Judo Federation (IJF), with the IJF President commenting that it gives the ‘opportunity to inch closer to the Olympic Games.’
[Javadian] won bronze at the European U23s Championships… and the European Junior Championships
-52kg judoka, Yasmin Javadian comes to the tournament following a successful 2019, with 2020 being heavily disrupted by the Coronavirus pandemic. She won bronze at the European U23s Championships in Izhevsk and the European Junior Championships in Vantaa. Javadian has won nine additional medals as a Junior and Cadet since 2015. Javadian was also nominated for Sportsperson of the Year in last year’s Sports Awards.
Lachlan Moorhead meanwhile competes in the -81kg category and will be looking to add to his three bronze medals that he won at the Kaunas European Junior Cup, the Coimbra European Junior Cup and the European Junior Championships in Vantaa.
The Tbilisi Grand Slam runs from Friday 26th to Sunday 28th March, and to ensure the event is COVID secure, athletes and coaches will be subjected to regular testing, and be part of a hotel ‘bubble’.
Javadian will be competing on the Friday…while Moorhead will take to the tatami on Saturday
Javadian will be competing on the Friday against the 37 other judoka in her category, while Moorhead will take to the tatami on Saturday.
UoB’s representatives are both recipients of UBSport Scholarships, which provide gifted sporting students financial support, gym memberships and sports science advice among other things to help them achieve both their academic and sporting goals.
Regardless of what happens in Tbilisi, the resumption of international competitions is an encouraging start to 2021 as the sporting world begins to reclaim what COVID took away 12 months ago. With Tokyo just around the corner, this Grand Slam could act as a strong start to the year for British Judoka.
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