A QUARTET of West Fife judo competitors were in the medals as they produced some fine performances at the Scottish Student Sport Judo Championships.

Kirsty Marsh, Jacob Callaghan, Kirsty Lawson and Angus Marsh all reached the podium at the annual event, which was held at the University of Strathclyde Sports Centre in Glasgow, recently.

Marsh, who ended 2021 by winning her sixth Scottish National Age Band Championship title in the senior women's under-57kg class, as well as a British Championship senior women under-52kg class, retained the female under-57kg title thanks a run of ippon victories.

She was the last of the local medal-winners – providing ideal preparation for her upcoming appearances at the Warsaw and Prague European Open competitions within the next month – with the first going the way of Jacob Callaghan.

The first year Heriot-Watt University student, who reached the semi-finals of the senior men's under-73kg category at the National Age Band Championships, took the combined under-73kg and under-81kg title in this event.

Four straight victories were his courtesy of an impressive variety of techniques, with the gold medal assured thanks to a measured performance which saw him escape narrowly from a potential choke hold before defeating his opponent with a throw-and-hold combination.

Kirsty Lawson, who trains at Destination Judo Club's Dalgety Bay branch, won cadet girls' under-52kg bronze at the National Age Band Championships, and she went one step higher on the podium this time around.

Representing Fife College, she reached the combined under-48kg and under-52kg class final after producing an excellent ouchi-gari throw to defeat Queen Margaret University's Anna Steele, but lost out on the gold medal to Glasgow Caledonian University's Rebecca Lamb.

To encourage them to continue with the sport, final year school pupils were allowed to compete at the Scottish Student Sport Judo Championships for the first time, and that paved the way for Inverkeithing High School's Angus Marsh to take a well-deserved bronze medal in the under-66kg group, after winning three successive fights by ippon.