Euan Burton won the Tokyo Grand Slam last year

Great Britain's Euan Burton has secured a bronze medal at the World Judo Championships in Tokyo.

The 31-year-old Scot won his four preliminary matches, before losing to Japan's Mashahiro Takamatsu in the Pool B final of the under-81kg division.

Burton missed out on the semi-finals but earned a shot at a medal by beating France's Guillaume Elmont in the repechage event with an ippon score.

The Scotsman then overcame Flavio Canto of Brazil to take the bronze.

"It is a massive relief to win that fight, the bronze medal fight is always hard because if you lose you go home with nothing," said Burton.

"Even though I have won the bronze medal, I am a little disappointed as I felt I could have been world champion today.

"It is not that often you get to compete in such a competitive tournament, and it is less often that you can produce a top performance each time.

"I felt really good going into the Championships and through my first few fights felt strong, but it is still fantastic to go home with a medal."

Burton also claimed bronzes at the 2007 World Championships in Rio and the European Championships earlier this year.

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version