GLASGOW, SCOTLAND — Building on the momentum of Donne Breytenbach’s thrilling bronze medal victory on Friday, Team South Africa’s judokas continued to make their mark on Day 2 of the Commonwealth Games judo competition, with Timothy Meuwsen securing a hard-fought silver medal.
Saturday’s action at SEC Hall 4 saw three South African athletes take to the mats, resulting in a second judo medal for the nation—and their third overall outside the swimming pool.
The standout performance of the day came from Timothy Meuwsen in the Men’s -81kg division. Meuwsen opened his campaign with a lightning-fast victory in the quarterfinals, defeating Samoa’s Peniamina Percival by Ippon (100-0) in just 17 seconds.
His semi-final bout against Cyprus’s Odysseas Georgakis was a gruelling battle of endurance. After the match went into Golden Score, Meuwsen ultimately secured victory by Ippon after 6 minutes and 40 seconds, guaranteeing a spot on the podium.
In the final, Meuwsen faced a formidable opponent in Malaysia’s Amir Daniel Bin Abdul Majeed. The match was tightly contested, but Bin Abdul Majeed managed to score a Waza-Ari (10-0) at the 3:05 mark, a lead he maintained until the end of normal time. While he narrowly missed out on gold, Meuwsen’s silver medal adds to an increasingly impressive resume for the 23-year-old, who has consistently medalled at African Opens over the past three years.
Earlier in the day, the Women’s -63kg division provided high drama. Skye Knoester started strong in the Round of 16, advancing automatically as her opponent, Ghana’s Elizabeth Oduro, forfeited (resulting in a 100-0 Ippon victory for Knoester). However, Knoester faced a tough quarterfinal against Canada’s Laurence Biron, narrowly losing by Yuko (2-1) after the full four minutes.
Relegated to the repechage, Knoester showed immense resilience. She battled Australia’s Maeve Coughlan through a gruelling 7-minute and 12-second match that went deep into Golden Score, eventually winning by Ippon (0-100) due to a penalty accumulation against her opponent.
This victory propelled Knoester into the Bronze Medal Contest against India’s Unnati Sharma. Despite her earlier efforts, Knoester was caught early, with Sharma scoring an Ippon in 1 minute and 7 seconds, leaving the South African just shy of a podium finish.
The day began with Thomas-Laszlo Breytenbach competing in the Men’s -90kg Elimination Round of 16. Breytenbach faced Scotland’s Scott Cusack, who leveraged the home crowd’s energy to secure a quick victory by Ippon in 1 minute and 8 seconds.
As Day 2 concludes, Team SA’s judo squad has firmly established their presence in Glasgow, bringing home both silver and bronze medals in a showing of true grit and determination.
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