Rush Judo take the podium at BJA flagship tournament

Rush Judo coaches Laurie Rush and Pete Brent with BJA national championship medallists Tom Lish and Michael Fryer.

The flagship event of the judo calendar saw more than 400 of the country’s best judoka fighting for places on the podium.

On Saturday in the junior boys (under-21s) Rush’s Michael Fryer (U66 weight category) took gold to become the Great Britain champion after straight wins in a large group of 26 judoka.

Fryer was unbeaten in all of his fights throughout the four rounds.

Tom Lish (U90) also had a fantastic day with many ippon scores to took to the podium after winning a bronze medal, despite fighting against several bigger opponents.

Emily Niven and Gergo Berendi narrowly missed out on medals, taking credible fifth-place finishes in their events.

Coach Laurie Rush was pleased with the first day’s haul, saying: “We are so proud of all our fighters. There were some great performances from players who missed out on medals, but fought with passion.”

On Sunday it was the seniors’ competition with Fryer capping his impressive weekend by earning a bronze medal – the club’s first-ever national senior medal.

He ended the weekend with two national medals from his 16 fights.

Coach Pete Brent said he was delighted and added: “We now have a year to work hard and get ready for next time. And what a way to end the weekend with Michael taking the club’s first senior national medal.”