A judo player from St Albans has scooped bronze at a European tournament.

After winning the 18 years British Championship and coming second in the U21 Nationals, Amy Platten continued her great form by taking a hard fought Bronze Medal in the 44kg category at the Cadet European Judo Cup in Fuengirola, Spain.

The competition started badly for the 15-year-old with a quarter-final loss to Shafag Hamidova of Azerbaijain, who would go on to claim silver.

However Platten would get a second chance at a medal via the repechage system, which she took full advantage of.

An impressive armlock saw off Spaniard Silvia Lopez Lorenzo before a wazari helped her to victory over Italian Martina De Blasio.

That set up a bronze-medal match against Vasiliki Kourri of Cyprus, who had lost to eventual winner Mireia Lapuerta Comas in the semi-final.

However despite the experience of her opponent, Platten hit her trademark uchimata throw to score an ippon and take the medal.

She said: “It was hard to stay positive after losing to the Azerbaijani fighter but it made me even more determined to win the rest of my fights.”

The ranking points gained has moved Platten up to 11th in the World.

She was able to fight in Spain and stay for a European training camp thanks to crowd-funding and an award from the 948 Sports Foundation.

Next up is a couple of UK ranking events before she flies to Zagreb, Croatia, in March for another European cup.