Bradley Sutton finishes fifth in World Junior Championships

It was another strong performance from the 20-year-olds, teaming up for the fifth time in the last two years at a major championships, with the Brits inside the top five of the overall standings throughout the day.

The men’s relay began in the pool with the British pair once again demonstrating they among the best athletes on the modern pentathlon circuit in the swim.

As they had done in the Junior European Championships relay earlier this month, Basingstoke’s Sutton and Pillage easily topped the timing charts, this time recording a 1:47.48, over three seconds clear of any other nation.

A slow start in the fencing hall left the British duo with ground to make up.

However, they were up to the task with the University of Bath based fencers enjoying a strong finish.

They won their final four bouts to end with 17 victories and 15 defeats from their 32 bouts.

A victory then followed over France in the bonus round.

This capped their fine morning on the piste, with the Pentathlon Great Britain pairing fourth after the opening two disciplines in Kladno.

The ride can often be unpredictable and it was the discipline which dashed the young Brits hopes of a top 10 finish, when they teamed up at last year’s Senior World Championships in Cairo.

However, they proved they have learnt from that experience which a calm and controlled display despite some difficulties in the warm-up arena.

Just five time faults for their round saw the British pair score 295 points, and this maintained their fourth position in the competition.

Conditions for the laser run were extremely tough with the temperature still in the mid 30s for the run-shoot discipline.

With the top three out of reach, the battle for the Sutton and Pillage was with Poland and China for fourth, fifth and sixth.

They crossed the line in the middle of that trio to record another fine result after their Junior European bronze earlier this season.