Winning weekend as Team Bath quartet strike gold at 2018 British Judo Championships
Adam Hall, Rhys Thompson, Gregg Varey and Oliver Nash all struck gold during an excellent weekend for Team Bath judoka at the 2018 British Judo Championships in Sheffield.
Hall, who is assistant coach to Juergen Klinger at the University of Bath, came out on top in the senior men’s +100kg weight division, while Thompson – supported by the Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme (TASS) – took the -100kg honours for the first time.
Team Bath High Performance Judo Squad team captain Varey, who had previously won titles at all other age groups, shrugged off a thumb injury to complete his collection of British Championships medals with a first senior success in the -66kg category.
University of Bath Sports Performance student Conor Murphy was a bronze-medallist in the -90kg competition.
Saturday’s Junior Championships action saw Nash improve on the silver medal he won at last year’s event by claiming the -73kg title with a series of imperious performances. Louis Delsol joined him on the podium as he took bronze.
Klinger said: “It was a really good weekend. We went to Sheffield with the goal of winning the three senior titles and we did just that, while Oli performed brilliantly to win junior gold.”
The Head Judo Coach was also delighted to see three young judoka who supplement their club training with sessions at the Team Bath Dojo win medals over the weekend.
Melbourn Judo Club’s Imogen Ranner, who recently completed the year-long Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence (AASE) programme, won gold in the women’s -78kg junior competition on Saturday before adding bronze in the senior event the following day.
South Brent’s Lewis Widdicombe and Max Gregory, who are currently on the Diploma in Sporting Excellence programme, both won junior gold in the -90kg and -100kg divisions respectively.
“Thank you to the clubs and coaches who trust us to work with their judoka, it is always a pleasure to work together in developing these athletes and we are proud to have been a part of their impressive performances over the weekend,” Klinger added.
Click here for more information about the judo programme at the University of Bath and the Diploma in Sporting Excellence.
