TOM Reed was left contemplating the paradoxical nature of his performance at last weekend’s European Open in Glasgow as a third straight defeat to Owen Livesey handed him his biggest points haul of the year.

The 29-year-old judoka’s main competitor for Great Britain’s U81kg spot at Rio 2016 is almost certain to be Livesey, 24, and on Saturday, Devizes’ Reed suffered his third straight gold medal match defeat at the hands of the Wigan player, following on from July’s European Cup final and the 2014 Commonwealth Games final.

However, Reed’s silver medal at the Emirates Arena also earned him 60 world ranking points, moving him up to 60th in his weight class and leaving him with plenty of hunger for the next phase of his quest for an Olympic berth.

“It’s the most points I’ve got all year, so the silver really was a good result. You have to be up in the top 35 to qualify and there are plenty of tournaments coming up,” said Reed, who is currently in Rome at a ‘Going for Gold’ international training camp and will also be practicing in Paris before his next assignment.

“This is my third continental open medal this year – I’ve never had three in one year before.

“I’ve still got one in Mauritius (on November 7-8) and one in Australia (on November 13-14) and then a Grand Prix in China (on November 20-22).

“You get 300 points for winning a Grand Prix, so there are plenty of points left to go for between now and May-June next year.

“Great Britain will only take one for the Olympics, so it could well end up coming down to me and Owen.

“For whatever reason, the way that he fights has always meant that he’s beaten me in finals – sometimes they’ve been close and sometimes they haven’t, like last weekend.

“It’s different to when I was behind Euan (Burton) because he was already a world-class player when I came through. Having a rival definitely pushes me.”

The Commonwealth Games silver medallist added: “It’s all good looking good in training but you’ve got to produce it in matches.

“I’ve got better at beating the foreign fighters, which is something I’ve worked on, but I want to keep improving as a player.”