William Humphreys has had a great start to his competitive year. William has attended three events already in the first two months. The first event was the Midland Area U20 Age Band event that was held at Walsall on 31 January, William was in the Cadets u66kg category along with 19 other players. He won his first contest by Ippon as his opponent was disqualified for leg grabbing; he then continued to win his second contest by Ippon throw, this put him in the semi-final. He lost the semi-final contest and was now in the bronze final against the player he had already beaten in the quarter-final, he beat his opponent again this time with a Waza-ari throw and hold down gaining William a third place and a Bronze medal.

The second event was the Bristol Classic Open on 6 February, he won his first and second contests by Ippon throws this put him in the final. He lost the final after being thrown for Ippon and as a result he finished in second place receiving a Silver medal.

William’s latest event was the North West U20 Age Band, he was again in the Cadets u66kg category along with 20 other players. He beat his first opponent by Ippon strangle, and then his second and third opponents by Ippon throws, this put William in the Semi-Final. William lost the semi-final after being thrown for Ippon by the eventual Gold medallist. William was now moved into the bronze final where he lost by a decision that could have gone either way, this meant William finished in Fifth place.

Two of these events were identification events for the England Judo Squad; players at these events are watched and assessed by the England squad manager and coaches and any players that are currently not in the England Squad and have achieved good results and delivered good performances during their contests will be invited to join the England Squad. In addition to the contest results the players must have also attended the regular England and ExCell training sessions that are held at Walsall and Sheffield.

William is now in with a good chance of being asked to join the England Squad as he has attained the results (he is currently ranked No.3 in England) and has attended many of the training sessions required. William and his family have dedicated a lot of their time and put in a lot of work to reach this level and an invite onto the England Squad will be well deserved.

William’s contest sheets and videos from his first three events can be viewed below.

Results from the Midland Area u20 Age Band