Summer Shaw claimed Scotland’s first judo medal of Glasgow 2026, securing a hard-earned bronze in the -48kg category on an exciting opening day of competition. Roared on by a passionate home crowd at the SEC Glasgow, she demonstrated resilience, determination and skill to earn her place on the podium and give Scottish supporters a moment to celebrate. Her success crowned a day of committed performances from Scotland’s judoka, who left everything on the mat in front of an electric atmosphere.
The first Scottish judoka in action was Neil MacDonald, who faced Kehinde Aremu of Nigeria in the -66kg category on Mat 1. Despite picking up two shidos, Neil showed great composure to secure victory with a superb osoto-gari to harai-goshi for ippon.
Advancing to the round of 16, he faced England’s Michael Fryer. With a yuko apiece, the contest moved into Golden Score, where a third shido brought Neil’s run to an end, ending his Commonwealth Games campaign.
Next up was fellow -66kg judoka Aiden Moffat who secured a win against Welsh judoka Joshua Bell, holding osaekomi to claim an ippon victory. Moving into the Quarter-finals Aiden met Canada’s Julien Frascadore, lost by ippon drop seoi-nage to drop into the repechage where he faced Australia’s Vas Middleton. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be for Aiden as he was thrown for Ippon during an attack attempt, meaning he finishes the day in 7th place.
It was back-to-back action in the -48kg category for Scotland’s judoka. Eva Ewing first faced India’s Asmita Dey, where she was narrowly defeated by arm-lock. Showing great resilience, Eva bounced back in the repechage, overcoming Ashleigh Barnikle of Wales to secure her place in the bronze medal contest.
Facing Malta’s Katryna Esposito in the bronze medal contest, Eva produced a determined performance and battled hard throughout. Despite her efforts, she was narrowly denied a place on the podium, ultimately finishing in an excellent fifth place after Esposito secured victory with an armlock.
On the other side of the draw, Summer Shaw made an impressive start to her campaign, defeating Wales’ Ashleigh Barnikle by yuko in her opening contest. She carried that momentum into the semi-final, producing another determined performance before narrowly losing out to India’s Asmita Dey, who ultimately won the Gold.
Undeterred, Shaw returned for the bronze medal contest in the final block, where she faced Botswana’s Botho Babutsi. Displaying excellent determination, Shaw secured victory with a well-executed armlock, earning a Bronze medal and a well-deserved place on the podium.
Tomorrow we will back at the SEC for day 2 of judo with 5 Scottish Judoka set to take to the tatami; Sophie Wood (-63kg), Sunny Doig (-63kg), Daniel Pacitti (-73kg), Oliver Short (-73kg) and Scott Cusack (-90kg). See you there!
