Daniel Powell and Lachlan Moorhead claim judo golds for England

Daniel Powell and Lachlan Moorhead both claimed gold medals for England on the second day of the Commonwealth Games judo competition at Coventry Arena.

Powell, from Walsall, took a golden score win over Gambia’s Faye Njie to claim the -73kg title while Moorhead beat Canada’s Gauthier Drapeau in the men’s -81kg division.

England won a total of five medals, with Gemma Howell taking silver in the -63kg category and bronze medals for Katie-Jemima Yeats-Brown and Kelly Peterson-Pollard, while Jasmine Hacker-Jones of Wales also won bronze.

The 32-year-old Howell was denied a fairy-tale comeback after losing by golden score to Canada’s Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard.

However Howell, who has endured 10 operations due to her sport and almost retired after missing out on a place at the Rio Olympics in 2016, said she was proud of her achievement in reaching the podium.

“We’ve fought already this year and it went to eight minutes, so I always knew it was going to be a close fight,” said Howell.

“It’s always been neck-and-neck – last time it was my turn, this time she got the win. I’d have preferred it at the Commonwealths but I tried my best.

“My career has been a roller coaster. I thought I’d quit in 2016, so I don’t know how I managed to keep going, but I did.”

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