On Saturday the 22nd of February, Britain's strongest university clubs gathered in Sheffield for a weekend of competition to determine the strongest university club in the country. Warwick entered fourteen players into the intermediate competition, all but two of whom started judo with the club's beginner's course over the last few years, and seven players into the advanced competition.

The U73kg intermediate category saw three of Warwick's five entering fighters go through their groups to the knock-out stage of the competition, in which Will Hann in particular continued to demonstrate strong, tactical judo to win fight after fight until the final. After four minutes and several close escapes, Will's fitness and tact saw him earn a handsome Gold medal as he beat the runner-up on penalties. Sudeep Gurung fought in the smaller U60kg category, where he won a bronze medal via what is surely the most gruelling nine-minute judo match BUCS has seen in some time.

Four of Warwick's advanced men went through their group stage to lose in the knock-out stages. Thomas Grandjean, 3rd dan, came top in his pool only to get stopped by the youth champion and eventual winner in the first knock-out round as the unstoppable Sophie Cox meanwhile worked her way to another bronze for Warwick in the women's U57kg category. The team competition took place on Sunday, and included Warwick teams in both the men's and women's categories, although they unfortunately lost out as Heriot Watt and Birmingham respectively took gold.

Overall, it was a great weekend for the club, and fantastic judo was played against the best young judoka in the country. In Judo, losses always come with lessons, and both the highs and lows of this year's competition will prove beneficial for each of our competitors in the training to come.