Euan Burton signalled a job well done as Great Britain’s judokas secured two medals at the Astana Grand Prix in Kazakhstan, with Natalie Powell leading the way with her first ever World Tour gold.
Earlier this summer Powell defeated London 2012 silver medallist Gemma Gibbons to take the under-78kg Commonwealth Games title in Glasgow.
And the Welsh champion showed she has carried that form on as she beat Dusseldorf and Samsun Grand Prix gold medallist Luise Malzahn, executing a winning waza-ari in the final.
There was also a milestone for under-57kg Commonwealth Games champion Nekoda Davis as she took her first Grand Prix medal, beating Stefanie Tremblay for bronze to earn 120 points towards Olympic qualification.
And Burton, who was involved with the team for his first international coaching appointment since retiring after winning gold at Glasgow 2014, admitted he had been impressed with what he saw.
"Natalie gave a great performance achieving a personal best and beating the number one seed in an exciting final full of scores and drama,” he said.
"It is another excellent result for Natalie and for British Judo.
"Overall, one gold, one bronze and two fifth places is a strong GB result at a Grand prix and the seven players who have self funded to next weekend's Uzbekistan Grand Prix will be looking to add to that tally."
© Sportsbeat 2014