Stevens and Howey miss out on medal

Judo

Judo

Two of Britain's top competitors, Kate Howey and Ray Stevens, just failed to win medals on the first day of the World Championships here yesterday, writes Jack Leonard from Makuhari, Japan.

A pick-up for yuko (five points) gave Howey the lead in her light-heavyweight semi-final against Castellano Luna but the Cuban's grip fighting gradually wore Howey down. Luna went on to beat Ulla Werbrouck of Belgium for the gold, while Howey lost out to the Ukrainian Tatiana Beliaeva for the bronze.

Half-way through Stevens' contest with Dmitriv Solovyov of Uzbekistan the 32-year-old Englishman was caught on the ground and dispatched with an armlock. Japan's Shigeru Okaizumi dashed Steven's hopes of a bronze in the repechage with a seven-point throw.