BOLTON Judo starlet Lewis Brooks made the podium twice at the Sainsbury’s UK Schools Games.

The 17-year-old Canon Slade student, who is on the England talent squad, had to settle for bronze in the individual under-81kg catergory, but bounced back in impressive fashion to help England A win team gold, enjoying a revenge victory over the individual gold medal winner in the process.

The double-medal haul at the Amaechi Centre in Whalley Range represents Brooks’ most successful performance yet in competitive judo – his only previous success at international level coming when he won bronze at the Nord Cup in Sweden earlier this year.

And he might have done even better in the individual event, had he not been matched against heavier competitors – a significant factor in him winning just one and losing two of his three contests.

He drew consolation from having lost to the two finalists - Scotland duo Del Imrie, who won gold, and silver-medallist Oscar di Domenico - and produced a much improved performance in the team event, winning three of his four match-ups, including victory over Imrie, who had previously won all of his bouts.

That win by the Harwood teenager, who is coached by the vastly-experienced Matt Clempner at the Bolton Judokwai club, proved to be a significant contribution to England A’s 4-3 victory over Scotland A.

“Lewis’s main aim is to get on the podium at all the events he enters, so to win a bronze and a gold was a terrific achievement,” said proud father Colin Brooks.

“He is achieving his goals but the next year and a half are going to be quite tough for him because he moves up the pecking order from cadets to juniors and will be competing against lads who are 20 years old.

“He will also be looking to lose a bit of weight because his normal weight being between 76 and 77kgs, he should be competing in the u73kg category rather than the u81kg.

“He’s been having to give quite a bit of weight away, and that seemed to cause him a problem in the individual event, although he managed to get into his stride in the team event.”