Newbury's Louise Sugden targets more success at Para Powerlifting World Cup in Georgia

PARA-powerlifter Louise Sugden is fully-focused on getting a good result when she travels to compete in the Para Powerlifting World Cup in Tbilisis, Georgia.

Sugden, who recently won a silver medal at the recent World Para Powerlifting World Cup in Manchester, will head to Georgia ahead of the competition beginning on Thursday, May 20.

The 36-year-old, from Newbury, learned a lot from her performance in Manchester and she’s excited for another opportunity.

“I'm really looking forward to getting back on the platform so soon after Manchester,” she said. “I didn't expect to be competing again so soon but I'm grateful for the opportunity to travel to this competition.

“While I'm always looking to bring home a medal, my goal for this competition is to improve on my technical performance from Manchester.

“If I'm able to do that, I hope that I can match or improve on my medal from Manchester.”

The Commonwealth Games silver medalist will be competing in the women’s 86kg category, hoping to continue her progress towards the Paralympic Games in Tokyo.

“My recent training block has been really productive and I'm excited to see the progress I've made in the last month when I get out on that platform.

“The World Cup in Tbilisi might be my last opportunity to compete before the end of qualification due to Dubai being on the travel red list so I need to make the most of the opportunity.

“The remainder of the qualification period is about defending my current ranking.

“I'm in a strong position but a lot of my competitors haven't been able to travel to competitions so I still don't know what impact the pandemic has had on their training.

“I just need to keep working hard, getting stronger and focus on coming away with a good result in Tbilisi,” Sugden added.