Broxburn martial artist takes judo bronze at British Championships

May 20 2010 West Lothian Courier

WEST Lothian’s Chris Sherrington took bronze at the 2010 British Open Championships at the K2 leisure centre on Sunday after some excellent displays.

The 26-year-old from Broxburn took third place in the hotly contested over 100kg category which featured some of the top judo players from all over the country.

Sherrington surged through the early rounds with victories over German Tobias Pahnke and fellow Brit John Ellis but fell to France’s Jerome Wustner in the semi-final.

The Scottish judoka, who also won a bronze medal at the European Cup in Sarajevo in April, bounced back to secure a bronze medal final against fellow Brit fought Zviad Tsiklauri.

The pair couldn’t be separated after the five minute time limit elapsed.

This led to both men being pushed to their physical limits as they entered golden score.

Sherrington rallied to score a waza-ari and a yuko which sealed victory.

After stepping off the medal rostrum, Sherrington said: “Being a Royal Marine, I am always striving for the best, so in some ways I am disappointed with a bronze medal.

“I will now take a good look at my diet and training.

“Everything has to be right if I’m to win gold medals.”

Britain won nine medals over the course of the two-day event. The impressive tally included five bronze, one silver and three gold medals.

The newly-recognised EJU Senior European Cup event, which featured 400 international competitors, saw Britain finish third overall in the medal table behind the Netherlands who pipped France to top spot in the finals.

The British Judo Association is the National Governing Body for the Olympic Sport of judo in Great Britain.