Joe Joyce has guaranteed himself a medal at the World Boxing Championships while Owen Livesey claimed judo gold in Glasgow. Here’s our review of the last 24 hours.
Super-heavyweight Joe Joyce secured himself a place in the semi-finals, guaranteeing at least a bronze medal, at the AIBA World Boxing Championships in Doha, Qatar.
Joyce was made to work hard but eventually beat Ali Demirezen of Turkey on points in Saturday’s quarter-final.
The pair had a stare-down before the contest and the Brit actually found himself behind on two of the judge’s scorecards after the first round.
However he came out firing in the second as Demirezen struggled to keep pace and sealed the win with a strong third round.
Joyce will now face Tony Yoka of France, who he beat at the European Games earlier this summer, after the Frenchman saw off Croatian second seed Filip Hrgovic in his quarter-final.
There was less success for the other Brits in action however as bantamweight Muhammad Ali lost to Azerbaijan’s Elvin Mamishzade, light welterweight Joe Cordina went down to Robson Conceicao of Brazil and middleweight Josh Kelly was beaten by Morocco’s Mohammed Rabii
Owen Livesey admits it was mission accomplished after picking up gold, and 100 ranking points towards Olympic qualification, at the Glasgow European Open.
The Commonwealth Games champion defeated fellow Brit Tom Reed by ippon in the under-81kg final as Great Britain’s judo players claimed eight medals in total at the Emirates Arena.
And while he came out on top this time, Livesey is convinced that Reed will return stronger than ever.
"It’s the fifth final I’ve faced Tom in a final and it’s getting closer every time. I managed to catch him, but Tom’s a good fighter and I’m sure I’ll meet him in a final again,” he told British Judo.
"It’s been a long day but a good day. I wanted to come here and get the 100 points and I did that so I’m happy.
"I love fighting at home, it gives my parents, family and coaches back home the chance to come and watch, it’s great to fight in front of them.”
In addition to Livesey and Reed, Philip Awiti-Alcaraz won under-100kg silver while Stuart McWatt, Andy Burns, Frazer Chamberlain, Ben Fletcher and Theodore Spalding-McIntosh all took bronze in their respective categories.
Peter Mills and Andy Ellis fought valiantly but ultimately lost in three sets in the YONEX Dutch Open men’s doubles semi-finals.
Mills and Ellis came close to an upset against top seeds Manu Attri and B. Sumeeth Reddy but despite winning the second set they were defeated 22-20, 19-21, 21-14 in a 70-minute thriller.
The British duo are ranked at 35 in the world but their Indian opponents have now reached five successive finals on badminton’s world tour.
However, it was still a promising week for Mills and Ellis who beat the likes of Chinese duo Lin Chia Yu and Hsiao-Lin Wu en route to the last four.
Johanna Konta continued her good form by beating Anna Tatishivili of the United States in three sets in Linz, Austria.
Konta, playing for the first time since her fantastic run to the Wuhan Open quarter-finals where she narrowly lost to Venus Williams, triumphed 6-4, 6-7 (4-7), 6-3 over Tatishvili in the first round of qualifying.
The British No.1 is at a career-high ranking of 49 following her recent exploits but tournament entry lists are decided weeks in advance meaning she must navigate three rounds of qualifying.
Next up for the 24-year-old is Julie Coin of France, who is ranked 201 in the world.
Sportsbeat 2015