WESt Essex Judo Club are celebrating the success of seven of their junior players after they took a haul of medals at the Harlow Judo Club tournament.

The first player to take to the mat was nine-year-old Daisy Dobney in the Under-16, third Mon and below category. Dobney was competing in her first competition but took to the mat with great confidence in all three of her fights.

In her first round, she had some great Ippon Seio Nage attacks but lost on points.

Her second venture out saw her take a win with an Osoto Gari for Ippon and she put up a valiant defence in the third bout but couldn’t overcome her opponent.

After a fine first display Dobney took the bronze medal in the category.

In the Under-12, novice and first Mon category, the bronze medal went to nine-year-old Finn Newman.

He lost his first fight but came out strongly in the second, smashing an Ippon with an Osoto-O-Toshi.

Michael Viknius, who is eight, was competing in his first contest and won his first two contests and just got out played in his third, leading him to the silver medal and gaining some great competitive experience in the process.

The first gold medal for the club came from 11-year-old Nikita Vasilevic as he went unbeaten in the Under-12, second and third mon category.

Vasilevic displayed some confident judo and transitioned beautifully between moves including Uchi-Mata and Koshi Guruma to take maximum points.

Ten-year-old George Buchan took the bronze medal in the category after winning two and losing two fights.

Zack Kiberd came away with the gold medal from the Under-12s, sixth Mon and below category as he fought bravely. Kiberd was the smallest of the category, but went undeterred among his competitors.

Lastly, Stan Allen took the silver medal in the over-12s, sixth Mon and below category.

The 12-year-old won his first fight by Ippon after a great Koshi-guruma into Mune Gatame.

Allen’s second fight saw him against an opponent with a longer reach and he got counted out after a 20-second Kesa Gatame hold.

Back on the mat for his third fight and he used his strength and speed to win with an impressive Ippon Seo Nage throw.