South Brent Judo Club sent a large squad of players to the West­ern Area Closed Com­petition (Peter Murphy) in Kingsbridge on May 8.

The judoka fought hard and had stunning results with eight golds, four silvers and four bronzes. So eight western area champions.

First on to the mat were the under 12s. Archie Hurst (U38kg) won bronze as did Jamie Shipp (U30kg) and Maddox Callard (U42kg). Kiya Butler (U32kg) had four fights and won all by ippon to secure gold.

Zoe Butler (U48kg) won two fights and won silver. Finn Steph­enson (U46kg) won gold. Xanthe Kil­roy Silk (U32kg) fought well but finished just outside the medals. A fantastic performance by SBJC’s youngest competitors.

Next up were the pre-cadets. First on to the mat was Cordelia Gregory (U57kg), who won gold after three convincing wins. Josh Shipp and Adam Vos­per both U42kg had two wins each before meeting in the final.

It was an extremely close contest that lasted eight minutes. Adam was the eventual winner. Pierre Michelin was the last pre-cadet and won a fantastic bronze to add to the SBJC tally.

Finally came the cadets with a rush of golds. Lewis Widdi­combe (U81kg) and Kolya Schwinge (U66kg) both won the top honour. Scarlet Hodge (U48kg) who fought up two weight groups won gold. Cerys Callard (U40kg) fought up a weight group and claimed gold after three impressive ippons. Silver medals went to Libby Daymond (U57kg) and Davy Grey (U55kg).

The fantastic performances of the SBJC players helped Devon win the Peter Murphy Shield by 78 points. The club also had two officials on duty, Olly Michelin acted as timekeeper and Pete Whitfield refereed.

The club coaches, Gary Gregory and Steve Squire, supported the players in achieving their fantastic results and are very proud of the sterling effort shown by all. A real team effort.

SBJC judoka will next be in action at the Challenge International Judo Competition and training camp in Bel­gium at the weekend.