Kelly Edwards has won bronze, in the -48kg weight category, on day one of the 2008 Junior European Championships, which is taking place in Warsaw, Poland.

Kelly had a good start to the day beating Kristyna Sedivakova of the Czech Republic, but lost in her next match to Derya Cilbil of Turkey, taking her straight in the repechage, with the opportunity to progress further.

In the repechage she defeated Shira Rishony of Israel and Ioana Matei of Romania to claim her spot in the bronze medal match. There she met Juliette Staedler of Swizerland, who the Brit beat after full time on points.

Commenting afterwards Kelly said, "I am so happy. This is definitely the biggest competition I have ever done and this bronze is a personal best for me".

"She (Staedler) was really strong at gripping. It took a little time but I got there in the end. Beforehand I watched some footage of her with our Performance Analyst, Nigel (Donahue) so I was well prepared on what to expect.

Looking towards the Junior World Championships she said, "I am confident now going into the Junior Worlds. It is nice to have this medal going into that event. It has not been a good year for me with injuries. It has been a bit stop and start in terms of training, but I had a fantastic build up to these Championships with hard training camps in Austria and Japan. I am pleased to have some reward for the hard work I have put in".

Britain’s other three competitors today finished just outside the medals.

JR Badrick finished 5th in the -66kg weight category, Nathon Burns finished 9th in the -60kg weight category, while Samantha Clarke finished 7th in the -63kg weight category.

Media Contact:

Emma Griffin

British Judo

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