The British team earned two bronze medals and a 5th place at the 2010 Junior European Championships under the watchful eye of British Judo’s Chairman Densign White.

The Championships, which were held from 17th -19th September in Bulgaria, saw 16-year-old Freya Dechastelain from Wolverhampton Judo Club win the first bronze medal for Great Britain.

The -48kg fighter was one of the youngest in the nine-strong team and showed great potential, seeing off the competition from older and more experienced players.

After losing her quarter-final, the Brit automatically earned a place in the repechage and a chance to fight for bronze.

Keeping her cool, the Brit won her next fight by ippon, earning a place in the bronze medal final against Mandy Tjokroatmo, a talented 18-year-old from the Netherlands.

The fight went to golden score, but neither player managed to score, leaving it to the three referee’s votes. With three blue flags in the air, Dechastelain was the clear winner of a well deserved bronze medal.

The second bronze medal of the Championships was also won on the opening day of the Championships, by 19-year-old Lewis Keeble in the -66kg competition.

This was the last year that Keeble would be able to compete in the Championships and he was happy with his result. “Half way through the year we weren’t sure I was going to be able to compete due to an injury I had picked up. But all the hard work has paid off and I am really happy to win a medal,” he said.

After a wake-up call in the first round, when the fight went to flags, Keeble knew he needed to step up his game to get a medal. Winning his second fight with an impressive ippon throw, he earned a place in the semi-final.

After losing his semi-final, Keeble needed to defeat Julian Kolein of Germany to win the bronze medal. After a very close match, the Brit executed another top performance, winning his first Junior European medal by ippon.

Keeble, who started out at Tamar Judo Club, has been released from his duties as an RAF Regt Gunner to train full time at the British Judo Performance Institute.

Finishing in a credible 5th place was Owen Livesey in the -73kg competition. The 19-year-old from SKK Judo Club also put on an impressive display of his capabilities for his final appearance at the Junior Europeans.

Elsewhere in the Championships, another cadet player making her debut on the junior stage was Hayley Willis (-44kg), who came up against Anne-Sophie Jura, the 2009 Junior European Champion. After a tough match, the Brit’s potential shone through and only lost by a yuko.

Brandon Dodge put in a good performance in the -55kg weight category against the 2008 European bronze medallist Elsevar Sadig-Zada. Encouraging performances were also achieved by Josh Butler (-100kg), Samantha Clark (-52kg) and Jodie Mullen (-63kg), but were unable to progress in the Championships.

Commenting on the team’s performance, Densign White said, “The Junior European Championships was a very positive tournament for the British Team. I had several EJU colleagues comment on the quality of the British fighters. I was particularly impressed by the standard of the judo of our athletes and their competitiveness at this level even from those who did not medal on this occasion. The team looked physically and mentally prepared.

“The impressive performances from Owen Livesey and Lewis Keeble with winning throws were talking points for many of the officials. Both players clearly benefitted from their focussed preparation this year. The medal for one of our youngest team members Freya Dechastelain also indicates the work being done through the Home Country Development programmes.

“It is a well known fact that success at this level and age range is a key measure of whether an athlete has a successful senior career ahead of them and on this performance I would say that these athletes have a great future of success in front of them.”