Earlier this month 23 western area judoka, including eight from South Brent Judo Club, made the 15-hour-long journey to the Nether­lands to compete in not one but two international competitions: Judoverenig­ing Vos tournament and Alk­maar tournament.

The western area clubs represented were South Brent Judo Club, Kingsley and Devizes. It was a challenging but ultimately enjoyable experience, where the young judoka learned from each other and benefited from the fabulous hospitality of the competition organisers.

Saturday was the first competition day and with more than 900 competitors from across Europe on 12 mats it was always going to be a tough day.

The judoka all gave a good account of themselves and had some stunning results. The Western Area won an incredible 14 medals over the two days.

First on to the mat for SBJC were the pre-cadets or the 15 years and under group. Josh Shipp (U42kg) won silver after four dominant wins, as did Adam Vosper (U46kg). Both boys had large groups of high grade players.

Cordelia Gregory (U63kg) came seventh after beating several brown belted players. Pierre Michelin (U66kg) fought well and came fifth in a group of 12. For the pre-cadets it was their first experience of strangles, which they coped with brilliantly.

Next up were the cadets (under 18 category) Lewis Widdi­combe and Max Greg­ory, who both fought at U81kg.

They performed well and finished just outside the medals, with Lewis fifth and Max seventh. Cerys Callard (U40kg) had to fight up two weight groups into the U48kg as there were no competitors in her weight category. Cerys fought well, won several fights and finished just outside the medals.

Tom Smith (U50g) won a well- deserved bronze after three hard fights. All in all, a fantastic first day for SBJC.

The astonishing run of success continued on Sunday at the 800 player Alkmaar tournament. Adam Vosper (U46kg) from Ivybridge Community College won silver again after four decisive fights in a group of 30.

Josh Shipp (Brixham College) placed seventh as did Pierre Michelin (U66kg) from ICC. Cordelia Gregory (U63kg) won bronze in a tough group of 12.

Next up came the cadets. Lewis Widdi­combe (ICC) came home in fourth and Max Greg­ory finished fifth. Tom Smith, also from ICC (U50kg), won silver and just missed out on gold by three points.

Cerys Callard of Kings­bridge Commu­nity College (U40kg) once again had to fight up to U48kg and fought well against considerably heavier opponents.

The judoka were ably supported by their judo coaches Jason Parsons and Gary Gregory, who freely gave their time and expertise and without whom the children would not achieve such high standards.