Euan Burton and Karina Bryant will take part in the prestigious IJF Judo Masters in Kazakhstan next weekend.
British judo dup heading to Kazakhstan to tackle Masters event
Britain have had two of their judo stars qualify for the IJF Masters in Kazakhstan next weekend, with Euan Burton and Karina Bryant heading off to take on the world's best.
The exclusive event, which takes place on Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 January, only includes the top 16 in the world in each category.
The result is a field brimming with continental, world and Olympic champions, which is the perfect quality preparation for the Olympics and could provide clues as to who will be fighting it out for medals in London.
In the -81kg field Euan Burton, 32, will look to replicate his 2011 Masters bronze medal and improve his world number 14 ranking.
In the +78kg category Karina Bryant, 32, who took bronze at the Qingdao Grand Prix in December, will compete as the world number 16.
Top event
The blockbuster competition is the sport's third-highest points scoring event behind only the Olympic Games and world championships.
400 points are available for a gold medal, 240 for a silver medal while 160 points will go to bronze medallists. 80 points will be awarded to judoka finishing in fifth-place.
In keeping with Grand Slam events there is no repechage system in effect at the Masters event.
British Judo Performance Operations Manager Karen Roberts said: "The 2012 IJF Masters represent a good opportunity for Euan and Karina to move further up the world rankings and push for a place in the top eight which would see them seeded at the Olympic Games.
"We have been awarded the full quota of 14 home qualification places for the Games so the next challenge is to for players to be seeded.
"The Masters event will be the highest world ranking points scoring event before the Games and so the competition will intensify this year in Kazakhstan."
