The 2011 U20 British Trials took place on Saturday 22nd January at EIS, Sheffield and saw 179 players from across Britain competing for a place on the British Squad.

The first medal of the day was in the -90kg competition. It was a close final between Ben Fletcher of Pinewood and Ernest Bevin Phoenix's Jack Kelly, with Fletcher taking the gold medal with a strangle.

After stepping off the medal rostrum Fletcher said, “There was some strong competition but I was pleased with how I performed. I’m hoping to go away with my club to Germany soon and then get into some A tournaments abroad.”

2010 Junior European bronze medallist Freya de Chastelain took the top spot in the -48kg competition. The final saw Amelia Cook of Tonbridge Judo Club sustain an injury after a strong arm lock from Wolverhampton's de Chastelain.

Fellow Wolverhampton Judo Club outfit and 2010 Junior European bronze medallist Kyle Sweet took a gold medal with an ippon throw in the -60kg final. The final against Adam Panayi took centre stage with no other fights taking place on the four-mat set up.

The -81kg final followed using just the one mat area between Adam Hoshall from Ernest Bevin Phoenix and Conall McGregor from Carnegie. Hoshall took his place at the top of the rostrum and secured his place on the 2011 U20 British Squad. The gold adds to his 2010 British Schools Championships title and 2010 London Youth Games gold medal.

SKK Judo Club’s Lucy Renshall won the -52kg gold medal in under a minute and fellow SKK fighter Bekky Livesey took gold in the -63kg competition, seeing off Jemima Yeats-Brown of Tonbridge who took the -57kg title at the British Championships last year.

After stepping off the medal rostrum Renshall said, “I’m really happy with the gold and a lot of my team-mates done well too.”

Team-mate Bekky Livesey said: “I’m happy with the gold, I didn’t really feel any pressure coming in as a cadet. It’s always encouraging to see my team-mates and my sister Amy doing well,” who took gold in the -70kg competition.

2010 British Champion and gold medallist in the -66kg competition, Curtis Dodge of Gower School of Judo, triumphed over Lasha Lekishvili and said: “There was some physical fights today but I was well prepared and I’m looking forward to fighting in the senior trials tomorrow.”

As the day drew to a close, the players were presented with their medals by members of the BJA Board of Directors, starting their path on the Junior Squad.

FULL RESULTS