TOM Reed has his eyes on a medal in front of his home crowd this weekend when he competes in the Glasgow European Open.

The 27-year-old judoka, from Devizes, will represent Great Britain in his usual U81kg weight category as he goes looking for the fifth Continental Open (formerly known as World Cup) medal at the Emirates Arena.

Reed earned the biggest win of his career last June as he claimed his first-ever IJF World Tour victory at the Miami Grand Prix and is hoping that a summer trip to the home of Judo has stood him in good stead to build on that success.

“I was at a Great Britain training camp up at the new British Judo centre in Walsall last weekend, which was pretty tough, but this week has been a lot more relaxed ahead of Glasgow,” said Reed.

“I’m looking forward to it because it’s always good to be in front of your home crowd and I’d love to get a medal. I also think it’s a good opportunity for some of the younger players to see the top guys in action.

“I remember going to the World Championships in the UK when I was 13 or so and that was amazing.

“I feel really good at the moment.

“I went out training in Japan (at the University of Tsukuba) at the end of August for two-and-a-half weeks and that was great.

“They train a lot differently out there and once you get back used to European judo, that’s when you really start to feel the benefits.

“I went to the Grand Prix in Croatia (on September 13-14) straight after coming back but that came a bit too soon.

“But now it’s been about a month, I think that I’ll start to gain from the trip – I definitely feel good right now.”

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