British Judo are pleased to announce the 13 judoka selected to compete at the upcoming IJF
World Championships in Qatar, Doha from 7th – 13th May.
Lucy Renshall will head to Qatar as the world number one ranked -63kg fighter following her
recent god medal at the Tbilisi Grand Slam. Renshall recorded a 7th place finish at the
Tashkent World Championships in 2022.
Renshall will be joined by current European Champion Gemma Howell in the -63kg category
Kelly Petersen-Pollard and Jemima Yeats-Brown have been selected to compete in the -70kg
category. Petersen-Pollard makes her second World Championship appearance whilst Yeats-
Brown competes at her third World Championships.
Two judoka have also been selected in the -57kg category. Lele Nairne makes her second
World Championship appearance whilst two-time medallist Nekoda Smythe-Davis makes
her return to the World Championship stage.
Another former World Championship medallist, Natalie Powell, makes her 8th World
Championship appearance alongside Emma Reid in the -78kg category.
Lachlan Moorhead and Samuel Hall will both compete at their second World Championships
in the -81kg and -60kg categories respectively. Moorhead is Commonwealth Games gold
medallist whilst Hall claimed silver at Birmingham 2022.
Following a string of recent impressive performances, at the age of 21, Charlie Young makes
his World Championship debut. The -66kg judoka recently made his World Tour debut after
winning gold at the Rome European Open.
Two more judoka making their World Championship debuts are Jamal Petgrave and Harry
Lovell-Hewitt in the -90kg and -100kg category. Petgrave recently won bronze at the
Warsaw European Open whilst Lovell-Hewitt has picked up two European Open silver
medals this year in Sofia and Rome.
With only two fighters permitted per weight category, Acelya Toprak has been named as a
reserve in the -57kg category.
British Judo Performance Director, Nigel Donohue said:
“The 2023 World Championships in Qatar is the premier event of the IJF World Tour and we
are pleased to confirm a strong team of eight women and five men. The women’s team all
have international pedigree who have performed and medalled at Grand Prix and Grand
Slam level, where we have seen some very impressive performances over the last couple of
months leading into these championships. Our men’s programme is growing in strength
where the team has selected itself. All have a strong Olympic Qualification ranking and have
medalled at European Open level. Special mentions to Charlie Young who competes in his first
World Championships and recently won the Rome European Open and also to Harry
Lovell-Hewitt, who has overcome a career ending injury a few years ago, to make back
recent back-to-back European Open finals and also earn his first World Championships
selection.
“Chelsie Giles will not compete in these World Championships. Having won Silver in 2022,
her Year 1 Olympic Qualification is very much on track and will be focussing on the IJF World
Masters in August as her primary event this year, which is a key Year 2 Olympic Qualification
event.
“The team will follow a tried and tested preparation programme over the next few weeks
and we have high expectations that each fighter will deliver their ‘best on the day
performance’.”
Full British Judo Team for the 2023 Doha World Judo Championships
Women
-57kg Lele Nairne
-57kg Nekoda Smythe-Davis
-63kg Lucy Renshall
-63kg Gemma Howell
-70kg Kelly Petersen-Pollard
-70kg Jemima Yeats-Brown
-78kg Natalie Powell
-78kg Emma Reid
-57kg Acelya Toprak (Reserve)
Men
-60kg Sam Hall
-66kg Charlie Young
-81kg Lachlan Moorhead
-90kg Jamal Petgrave
-100kg Harry Lovell-Hewitt
