Isle of Man Sports Academy graduate Connor Craig produced a career-best performance at the Cadet (under-18) British Judo Championships recently.

The event took place at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield and Connor came away with a deserved silver medal.

Having achieved bronze at the Welsh Open at the start of November, the Manx judoka was seeded in his weight category of -81kg, which gave him a bye in the first round and pitched him against unseeded Paddy Radigan in the quarter-final.

Radigan had already produced an upset in his first round match and after a cagey start from both competitors, Craig started to produce his best judo, dominating with the grip and throwing with a powerful leg sweep to claim the win within 90 seconds.

This set him up with a semi-final against fellow Welsh Open bronze medallist Luke Henderson, but Craig dominated the contest and secured another match-winning throw in under a minute to book his place in the final.

After a long wait for the finals block to start that evening, the gold medal contest would see the Island Games and Commonwealth Championships competitor face top seed Joshua Leonard.

With Leonard coming into the contest in a rich vein of form and unbeaten so far in this category this season, Craig knew he would have to battle hard if he wanted the top step on the podium.

The contest was an enthralling affair which went the full four-minute distance, Leonard countering Craig’s attacks for an advantage score, but the Manx fighter demonstrated good levels of strength and fitness to escape the resulting hold-down and force his opponent into two penalties.

Knowing a third penalty would disqualify his opponent, Craig continued on the attack but found himself defending Leonard’s groundwork attacks as he tried to grind the clock down.

A rear strangle from the top seed right at the death sealed the win for Leonard, meaning Craig had to settle for silver, but the Manx athlete can be proud of his performance at this level of competition, which was up there with contests in Gibraltar in the summer and shows the progress made during a busy calendar year.

Connor is now ranked second in the UK for this category and recognition from national selectors can surely not be far away. This is the second national medal secured by an Isle of Man-based judoka this year, following Chris Horton’s bronze in the British Masters in October.

Also in action at the British Championships were Nathan Kennaugh and Isle of Man Sport Aid recipient Archie Collis.

Both were competing in their respective age categories for the first time, with 14-year-old Kennaugh competing in the cadet (u18) class and 17-year-old Collis, supported by CTH Insurance, entered in the junior (u21) event.

Both had tough categories against experienced opposition and were unable to progress from the pool stages.But both gained valuable experience ahead of the British Schools competition which they are both eligible for next year.

l Isle of Man Judo are currently looking for sponsors to assist with what promises to be a busy calendar of events next year, as they aim to send athletes to competitions and training camps off-island.

If you know of anyone who would be interested, please contact chairman Chris Horton on 426593.