RYEDALE ace Bryony Elliott has risen into the top 20 judo exponents in the country in her weight category – having been outside the ranking list just 12 months ago.

Elliott, a fighter and coach at Ryedale Judo Club, followed her recent success in the Goole Open by storming into the semi-finals of the North of England ranking competition in Bradford.

She then came away with the bronze medal after a particularly hard fight with arch-rival junior international Jade Inman.

This was a national ranking event and her form lifted Elliott to 19th in the under-63 kilogramme division, from 24th at last count.

Club chairman Mike Leng said Elliott put on “a good display of techniques and determination”, adding of her new ranking: “This is great progress considering this time last year Bryony was outside the national ranking list of the top 45 players in Great Britain.”

Meanwhile, Charlotte Simpson, Alice Langdale and Tyler Waterton led Ryedale Judo Club's gold rush at the Scarborough Invitation Championships.

The trio emerged victorious in a competition that attracted the region's best youngsters from clubs in York, Scarborough and Pickering.

From an 18-strong squad, Brandon Cowton, Mathew Simpson, James Grant, Thomas Askew, Jacob Konya, Matilda Gledhill and Isabell Adams also brought home silver medals, while Joshua Brooke, Ben Coughlan, Harry Gascoyne, Ollie Gledhill, Alex Beeson and Adam Beeson claimed bronze.

On the day's achievements, Leng said: "It was the usual well-organised meeting and all those taking part for Team Ryedale had a very good work-out and entertained supporting parents and friends with some exceptionally good contests.

“Club president Paul Willis and welfare officer Kat Cowton, as well as all the anxious parents, were in great voice and the medal haul shows just how well the boys and girls performed.

"To celebrate afterwards we spent a couple of hours on the beach playing cricket and getting wet through during a glorious afternoon of sunshine. We then returned to Scarborough Sports Centre for a hog roast evening."

Ryedale Judo Club will scale down their club nights over the summer holiday to one evening a week.

That will be Fridays from 7pm to 8pm but the Wednesday sessions (7.30pm to 8.30pm) will be restored on Wednesday, September 10.

For further information, contact ryedalejudoclub@googlemail.com