After two of three days of judo action, every title so far has been claimed by judoka from either England or Scotland, a statistic which reveals the comparative lack of strength in depth across the Commonwealth in the sport.

But any weakness in quality was more than accounted for by the strength of the atmosphere as the tightly packed arena created a raucous vibe, which perfectly suited the speedy nature of the competition. 

The crowd was at its most vocal in the opening final as 36-year-old Sarah Clark, a veteran of three Olympic Games, provided a judo lesson for her younger rivals in the under 63 kilogram category. 

The 2006 European champion, a silver medallist at the Manchester 2002 Commonwealth Games, the last occasion the sport appeared on the programme, forced a submission from her Cameroonian opponent Helene Wezeu Dombeu, to win early on in what was her final bout before retirement.

Both bronze medals were won by English fighters Katie Jemima Yeats-Brown and Faith Pitman.

"That is what I came here to do and I have come out with the result I wanted," said Clark 

"Today I feel like I have done it because of the crowd, my family, friends have come to see me. It is for them and for Scotland.

"My motivation was always there. and to keep the momentum going for Scottish judo is fantastic, this will be my last competitive tournament for sure."

Owen Livesey won one of three English gold medals in the judo ©Getty Images




Elsewhere however, it was one English celebration after another, with the men's under 81kg final even coming down to a final between two players from the country.

That was won by Owen Livesey, a 23-year-old former rugby league player, who had a little too much for opponent Tom Reed, winning by three penalties to two in the final contest of the evening.

Before that, Danny Williams defeated Adrian Leat of New Zealand in the under 73kg final with a spirited performance, with his win particularly unexpected because he was only a late replacement for the injured Ben Fletcher. 

But while the Games proved a disappointed for Fletcher, he had much to celebrate when sister Megan, won the 70kg division with a superb ippon over another New Zealander, Moira de Villiers. 

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