Silvers for two talented stars

Teens at British Championships

Two Larkhall judo students ended 2017 on a high by lifting silver medals at the British Championships.

Ryan Quigley and Aaron Miller travelled to Sheffield for the major competition.

Sixteen-year-old Ryan, who starred at this year’s Youth Commonwealth Games in the Bahamas, was left disappointed after defeat in the final to a long-standing rival in the Cadet section.

However Aaron (17) in the Junior British, had stepped up an age section and won eight of his nine fights to claim a deserved silver.

Both are members of Hibari Kan Judo Club in Larkhall, and coach Andy Malone was delighted with their exploits.

He said: “Ryan beat his opponent at the Welsh Championships earlier this year and it’s between the pair to see who is the best in Britain.

“The match went into three extra minutes with the first person to score being the winner.

“Unfortunately Ryan lost to a wazari and he was gutted, but he has three ranking events in the Scottish, English and Irish Opens, and if he beats him he should go to the European Championships next summer.

“We were looking for Aaron to win a few matches, but to get a silver medal was excellent.

“He coped very well with the age level – Aaron trains hard in the gym and has a good skill level and technical ability.

“Aaron will have a couple of weeks off, then he will be back in training for the Scottish Junior Open in January.”

Aaron, who has already been part of the National Academy programme in Walsall for future Olympic judokas, will be juggling judo with his university studies, but his coach is convinced that he can handle the dual demands.

Andy said: “Aaron is going to uni next year, so we will fit the training in around that.

“He has been ear-marked as a talent for the future but the bottom line is that his education has to come first.”

A third student, Oliver Park from Wishaw, also had a chance for success, but illness put paid to that.

Andy explained: “Olly had a really bad chest infection.

“He just couldn’t perform at his usual level, but he couldn’t do anything about it. He was absolutely floored.

“Olly managed to win a few matches, even though he wasn’t 100 per cent, so I have no doubt he will be back winning medals at the next competition.”