Georgia Hannam and Kerenza Bryson on the podium (picture Pentathlon Poland)

PLYMOUTH pentathlete Kerenza Bryson got Great Britain off to a brilliant start at the Junior World Championships in Poland by winning a women’s relay silver medal with Georgia Hannam.

The British pair produced a brilliant performance to make the podium in Drzonkow.

Bryson’s silver followed on from winning both a relay and a team medal at last month’s Junior European Championship.

After a week-long training camp in Berlin, 20-year-old Bryson and 21-year-old Hannam began their Junior World Championships campaign in the pool with the 200m swim. A solid start saw the Brits clock a 2:12.08 minutes, leaving them in the mid-pack after the opening discipline.

It was the fencing hall where the GB pairing vaulted themselves into contention. A string of excellent hits saw them record 21 victories and just seven defeats from their 28 bouts – three victories ahead of any other nation.

Although they did not add to that tally in the bonus round, the Brits still topped the overall standings at the end of the morning.

On their allocated horses Wulkan and Barbossa, it was just poles that dented the Brits score, but they still picked up 264 points, leaving them second heading into the concluding laser-run.

However, with just 23 seconds covering the top six, everything was still to play for and enthralling run-shoot followed.

Plymouth University’s Bryson and University of Bath student Hannam their nerve, though, taking just 40 seconds for their four shoots as they remained in the medal places to take an impressive and deserved silver medal with the second quickest laser-run time. Russia took gold with the Czech Republic completing the podium with bronze.

Bryson will both be back in action on Tuesday for women’s individual qualifying.