Natalie Powell improves Rio hopes with bronze medal in World Judo Masters in Mexico

Natalie Powell claimed a bronze medal for Great Britain on the final day of the IJF World Judo Masters in Mexico.

Powell bounced back from a heavy defeat against world champion Kayla Harrison to secure third place in the -78kg category, while team-mate Gemma Gibbons finished fifth.

The British duo had to fight each other at the quarter-final stage and it was Powell who claimed the victory - she threw her team-mate for yuko before getting the hold down and taking the contest by ippon.

That left Powell to face American judoka Harrison for a place in the final, but the Briton had no answer to a fierce attack just over a minute into the bout, and an ippon throw meant victory for the world champion.

Gibbons, silver medalist at London 2012, went into the repechage final against Italy's Assunta Galeone and did well to claim victory via waza-ari after having fallen a yuko down in the early stages.

That meant bronze medal fights for both British judoka, but Gibbons was unable to overcome world No 3 Guusje Steenhuis from the Netherlands - Steenhuis managed to get a single yuko and that proved enough for a narrow victory.

But there was better news for Powell, who secured a pair of waza-ari throws against China's Zhehui Zhang to secure a medal in the final event counting for Olympic qualification.

Powell said: "It's really good to finish the qualification on a high note. It's been a tough few years and after winning the European bronze it was hard to get myself up again for another big tournament.

"Winning the bronze means that the points I have gained will put me into seventh seed for the Olympic Games if selected."