St Albans judo ace Lucy Day bumped her British ranking up to sixth after winning gold at the Junior Northern Ireland Open.

Herts Advertiser: Lucy Day armlocks her opponent. Picture: Mike VareyLucy Day armlocks her opponent. Picture: Mike Varey (Image: © mike varey 2014)

The 16-year-old, who is on the University of Hertfordshire Talented Athlete programme, also took fifth in the senior event.

Before this, Day, who competes in the Under-57kg category, won silver in both the English Junior and Senior Opens and secured fifth place in the Spanish European Cup. It was here that one of her fights went on for almost eight minutes – nearly double the normal competition time - before sge beat her opponent to win to progress through to the next round.

This latest triumph places her 63rd on the International Judo Federation Cadet world ranking list.

“This has been a fantastic year for me so far. It’s been hard work with lots of training and having to balance studying for my GCSEs, but with all the support I receive, it has been a very successful year,” she said.

Herts Advertiser: Lucy Day throws her opponent. Picture: Mike VareyLucy Day throws her opponent. Picture: Mike Varey (Image: © mike varey 2014)

Nick Brooking, director of sport at Herts Uni added: “Lucy is fully committed to her training and is a great role model for our [Talented Athlete] programme. It is a privilege to support the next generation of sporting talent who can benefit from the top class skills and expertise we offer here.”

After being crowned British Cadet champion at the end of last year, Day made it to the third round of Croatia’s European Cup and the quarter-finals of the European Cup in Italy.

The Hertfordshire Talented Athlete Programme (HTAP) offers Hertfordshire’s most talented young athletes the opportunity to access high quality services to assist them achieve their potential in their sport. Current HTAP programme sponsors include the University of Hertfordshire, Accident Express and Lee Valley Park. If you are interested in supporting the HTAP programme through sponsorship or finding out more about athlete selection, click here.