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Cornwall’s young judoka
Declan Byrne emerged from a field of Europe’s finest young players
to take a credible fifth at the Cadet European Cup in Sczcyrk,
Poland on Saturday 22nd May.
Byrne, 15, a member of
Polkyth Judo Club, competed in the under 66kg category at the
event which served as Britain’s final competitive event before
taking the same team to the European Cadet Championships in the
Czech Republic on Saturday 25 th and Sunday 26 th June.
In his opening contest
Declan beat Hungary’s Benjamin Hajtos by ippon. He saw off Ukraine’s
Vladyslav Kaluzhka by the same method before narrowly edging France’s
Yan Fabre to secure a semi-final meeting against Lithuanian Mantas
Adomavicius.
After losing a tense match
by ippon he returned to action through the repechage system to
battle Turkey’s Murat Bektas in the bronze medal match. Despite
a tenacious effort in his fifth contest of the tournament the
British youngster lost out to his more experienced Turkish foe.
Declan’s mother, Vanessa
Byrne, who’s also the Club Secretary at the remote yet popular
Polkyth Judo Club, said: “Coming from Cornwall that’s a massive
accomplishment for Declan.
“He was delighted with
his performances and had a great weekend in Poland. He’s now looking
forward to the European Championships.”
The 1 st Dan is currently
involved in the ‘ExCell programme’ which is aimed at increasing
the quality contact time which players identified for the England
Talent Development Programme spend participating in the sport
with talents of a similar ability.
Britain claimed their first
gold medal at the Polish event as Freya de Chastelain from Wolverhampton
Judo Club secured the top prize in the in the under 48kg weight
category. Elsewhere Jemima Duxberry of Devizes took bronze while
Katie-Jemima Yeats-Brown from Tonbridge Judo Club took fifth.
Karen Roberts, Performance
Operations Manager, said: “This has been an extremely encouraging
event, not based on the results but the performances of every
individual.
“The England staff has
implemented the technical direction of Patrick Roux within the
England Development programme, and along with it over the last
eight months created a culture for hard work and belief in their
ability.”
Declan will undertake his
final European preparations for Europe’s premier junior event
at a three-day training camp at Kendal Judo Club from Friday 11
th to Sunday June 13th.
Polkyth Judo Club train
at Polkyth Sports Centre, Cornwall, PL25 4DB. Boys and girls train
on Thursday at 18:00 – 20:00 and on Friday at 19:30 – 21:00. Men
and women train on Thursday at 20:00 – 21:30.
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