TWO of Dartford Judo Club’s youth players were in action at the British schools’ national championships in Sheffield.

Charlie Whittaker (U55kg) won his first two fights with ease by throwing his opponents to secure his place in the quarter-final.

Fifty seconds into the contest, Whittaker dominated well to catch his opponent with a throw for ippon, ending the fight outright and gaining his place in the final.

The final was evenly matched until Whittaker mad an error which led to a penalty and a score with the gold medal going to his opponent with the Dartford youngster having to settle for silver.

Laurence Holden (U66kg) (found himself drawn in a weight group of 18 competitors.

Holden’s first three fights all finished within one minute min as he demonstrated superior technical skills to throw every opponent, scoring the maximum ippon each time.

His semi-final was to go into golden score and lasted the full six minutes but it was still tied with no winner, so it went to the referees’ decision where Holden lost on a split verdict.

This left Holden fighting for a bronze in the repecharge and he returned back to his best, securing himself the medal with another ippon throw after just one minute.

Dartford's junior and youth members were also in action at the south of England championships at the K2 in Crawley.

First up to fight was Connor Seal in the U30kg group one.

Although Seal lost his first fight to the eventual gold medallist, he went on to storm through the repecharge to fight for bronze.

It was a close match but Seal secured the win during golden score time with an ouchi gari technique to claim the bronze and Dartford's first medal of the day.

Tom Fisher was next in the U30kg group two.

Fisher won with confidence throughout his first fights to make the semi-final where he lost narrowly but went on to win bronze in impressive style easily over powering his opponent to finish with a hold on the ground for ippon.

Brayden Quinn (U38kg group three) was progressing well having won his first fight. Quinn lost his second bout but was scoring well in his third when he was unfortunately injured, forcing him to retire from the competition.

Luke Kemp (U42kgs group thre) fought well and despite his lack of competitive experience, battled well enough to claim a bronze medal.

Chris Ball fought in the U46kg group three where he started his campaign well with a dominant performance to secure a win in his first fight.

Ball went on to lose his next, forcing him into the repecharge.

He easily won his next fight but found his next contest hard work and defeat meant he finished outside the medals in seventh place.

Erik Whittaker (U66kg group three) fought well to win his first two fights in his pool to earn him a semi-final spot.

Whittaker fought well in the semis but found himself up against an opponent with more competition experience and had to settle for the bronze.

Max Shorter and Jack Glyn-Jones both competed in the U50kg group two.

The Dartford club mates often find themselves in the same group and often drawn against each other.

Both boys progressed through their pools with ease but were to face each other in the semi-final.

With the duo earning scores from throws, it was yet again a close contest but it was Shorter who was to emerge the victor and progress to the final.

Shorter was dominating when the fight went to the ground where he was caught awkwardly around the neck causing him too much discomfort to continue.

He was awarded the silver with Glyn-Jones picking up the bronze.

Ceylon Giles (U36kg group five) was looking forward to a podium finish and started well with an early score followed by a second.

Giles had managed to defend well against her opponent’s strong tomei nage technique.

When her opponent tried again with the technique, Giles was ready to catch her arm underneath her opponent, resulting in her instant withdrawal.

She would later discover her arm was broken, much to everyone’s surprise due to her bravery at the time.

All eyes were on Ryan Cottom (U60kgs group three) as Dartford’s last competitor of the day.

With the support of his club mates, Cottom overcame each of his opponents with technical ease.

Cottom reached the final where he didn’t disappoint, delivering a massive shoulder throw for ippon and the gold.