BASINGSTOKE judo star Shelley Ludford narrowly missed out on a medal at the European Youth Olympic Festival in Tbilisi.

The teenager was part of a 44-strong GB team made up of athletes aged between 13 and 17, many of whom are already working towards the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

The 16-year-old, from Brighton Hill, was fighting in her final cadet competition at the under-70 kg weight and won her opening bout against Russian Anastasiia Iliushkina in the round of 16.

This set-up a quarter-final clash with world number four Jovana Pekovic from Montenegro, the eventual silver medalist, who proved to be a little too strong for Ludford on the day.

Ludford went into the repêchage competition and soon got back to winning ways, beating Estonian Vikoria Mironova and Patricia Fernandes Sampaio from Portugal.

These two victories saw her through to the bronze medal match, where she faced Karla Prodan from Croatia.

She had lost to the gold medal winner Alice Bellandi of Italy in the semi-finals, but Ludford went into the match knowing that she had beaten the Croatian in the past.

However, on this occasion she came out second best and just missed out on a medal, finishing fourth.

Looking back on the Youth Olympics, Ludford said: “It was an amazing experience and we were treated really well.

“There was an athletes’ village, which had been specially built and the opening ceremony was really nice as we got a big cheer as we came into the stadium.

“The opening ceremony was on the Saturday and we did not compete until the Friday, but we trained every day and on one evening, because it was so hot, we trained in the village and ended up with a audience watching us.

Talking about the competition, the teenager added: “I was the most nervous I have ever been before an opening fight, but once I got over that I really enjoyed the event.

“It was a shame not to get a medal as I have beaten Prodan before, but it was not to be.”

Ludford, who will be attending BCoT this autumn, is next in action at the British Championships, where she will compete as a junior in the under-21 age group.

She is looking forward to it, having already enjoyed success at junior level this season and is still focused on making it to the Olympics, with the 2020 Games in Tokyo very much in her sights.