Ryan Cottom, who won gold in the under-66kg 12-13 category

Dartford Judo Club’s Ryan Cottom underlined his potential by winning a gold medal in the Southern Open Championships at Crawley.

The Great Britain cadet player fought impressively to reach the final of the under-66kg 12-13 year old boys’ category and then made short work of his opponent to capture the gold.

Cottom was one of four Dartford juniors in action at Crawley and the club also picked up a bronze medal through Shane Tyler in the under-73kg 14-17 category.

Tyler, 14, lost to a 17-year-old opponent in the quarter-finals but he then performed well in the repechage to earn a bronze medal fight.

It was a tight affair with even scoring but Tyler produced a strong finish to come out on top.

Dartford’s youngest competitor in action was Max Shorter in the under-50kg 10-11 section.

Shorter was up against the favourite in his first round contest but only lost narrowly after incurring a penalty for posture. But he then won his next two contests to set up a bronze medal fight-off.

Shorter took an early lead with a yuko score but his opponent hit back to win, leaving the Dartford youngster in fifth place.

Christopher Ball was eliminated in the under-38kg 12-13 category after losing his first two fights.