IVYBRIDGE Community College pupil Lewis Widdicombe will compete at April’s Junior European Judo Cup in Italy.

The 17-year-old South Brent Judo Club member has been producing some encouraging performances against older competitors at under-21 level.

Last weekend he finished as the highest-placed first-year junior in a competitive under-21 -90kg category at the International Masters Bremen meet in Germany.

Following a bye in the first round, Widdicombe narrowly lost the second round contest to Ryohei Arai from Japan. However, as Arai won his pool and eventually came fifth, Widdicombe went into the repechage.

He decisively won his third contest by ippon against Mateo Haberman from Germany. Then he quickly scored a wasari against Germany’s Will Myrow, who then rallied and won by ippon and eventually placed seventh.

The trip to Germany also allowed Widdicombe to take part in a high level training camp with 800 judokas from 21 countries, which will have helped his preparation for the Italian European Junior Cup, which will start on April 7 in Lignano.