The four-time European champion and three-time Olympian edged past France's 2007 European bronze medallist Ketty Mathe and reached the semi-final with a win by yuko over Carola Uilenhoed of the Netherlands.

In the semi-final contest, three-time European champion Elena Ivaschenko of Russia picked up a yuko and sealed a place in the final by ippon which saw Bryant (pictured above, right) enter the repechage to fight for bronze against Bosnia-Herzegovina's former junior world champion Larisa Ceric (pictured above, left).

Bryant was the aggressor and confirmed her place on the podium with ippon.

After stepping off the tatami Bryant said: "I am pleased with my performance, it gave me a great opportunity to see how my preparation has been going and where I am at this stage of my plan up to London."

In the -90kg category British two-time Olympian Winston Gordon had a bye in the first round before meeting Poland's former under 23 European champion Krzysztof Weglarz.

Gordon took the win via ippon with two minutes left in the contest.

In the pool semi-final Gordon bowed out at the hands of Georgia's 2011 European bronze medallist Varlam Liparteliani – the eventual gold medallist – by ippon.


In the same category Britain's Matthew Purssey (pictured above, right) lost by way of ippon to Austrian national champion Max Schirnhofer.

The -100kg field saw Briton James Austin topple Frenchman Cyril Maret before tasting defeat against German Dino Pfeiffer by ippon.

In the +100kg category Austin's compatriot Chris Sherrington went out to France's Matthieu Bataille by ippon having registered a waza-ari of his own.

The +78kg category also saw Britain's Sarah Adlington exit the competition against Ukraine's Iryna Kindzerska by ippon.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
April 2012: Burton and Bryant seek Olympic judo seeding in Russia alongside juniors given the chance to impress
December 2011: Bryant takes bronze in Qingdao Grand Prix
April 2010: Seven up for Bryant as she strikes bronze in Vienna