A British student team of judo players secured two medals at the inaugural European University Judo Championships in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina last weekend.

The fledgling event, which featured national team players from across the continent, attracted 125 judoka from 14 nations as they represented 42 Universities.

Wales’ Fiona Jones, of Royal Holloway, University of London, took an impressive silver medal in the -78kg category.

Fiona Jones (white gi) in action in the -78kg final

Compatriot Natalie Powell, a student at Cardiff University, claimed bronze in the -70kg category.

Natalie Powell (far right) on the medal rostrum

Edinburgh University’s Artem Bakarov took fifth while Boris Kibrik of Middlesex University, Kane Chandler of Cambridge University and Shaun Mitchell of Bath all finished in a respectable seventh-place.

Oxford University coach Chris Doherty and fellow British Judo Technical Officer Sandra Klinger led the British team.

“I’m very pleased with the results, we went there not knowing what level of competition to expect and it was extremely high with a lot of international judoka in action,” said Chris.

“Our players gave it their all and put in some very strong performances. Well done to both our medallists and the rest of the team.”

Portugal will host the next European University Judo Championships event in 2013.