British Junior & U23 Championships Day 2

Day 2 of the British Junior & U23 Championships began with the men’s 85kg class. Miles Morgan won gold for the juniors with a 253kg total with Rhodri Beynon in close second with a 247kg total. Over in the U23 category for the men’s 85kg class, senior British champion, Guy Michel Tchuissi put on a remarkable performance to take the British U23 title with a 290kg total, clearing 2nd place by a 20kg.

Next up on day 2 was the women’s 69kg class, Northern Tyneside’s Lilly Petts and reigning U23 Champion Holly Knowles took first place in this group, both athletes making 4 of the 6 lifts.

Reigning junior champion Thomas Whelan retained his title in the men’s 94kg juniors with an impressive 256kg total. Over in the U23 competition, the battle between reigning British U23 and senior champion Cyrille Fagat Tchatchet and 2017 British senior, silver medalist Edmon Avetisyan had the audience on the edge of their seats. After Cyrille cleared his second snatch of 145kg, Edmon missed his opening lift of 146kg, before moving the bar up to 150kg for his second attempt. After a good lift at 156kg by Edmon, Cryille decided to not complete his third lift and wait for the second part of the competition to begin. Edmon then missed his final lift of the snatch, leaving just 5kg between the two lifters. Both lifters then went on to clear 180kg on the clean and jerk. After clearing his 2nd lift, Cyrille then decided to again, not complete his final lift, leaving Edmon to attempt 190kg and 192kg. After a phenomenal show, Edmon finished his clean and jerk on 180kg. Cyrille retained his title due to Edmon’s guest appearance.

The fourth group of the day was the women’s 75kg, 90kg and 90kg+ categories. Stars For The Future’s Deborah Alawode won gold for the juniors in the 75kg as Emily Pursehouse took the title for the U23, beating 2nd place finisher Charlotte Thomas by just 1kg. Junior lifter Brityn Vreeland and last year’s U23 silver medalist Lauren Miller both won gold for the 90kg groups. Reigning champion Mercy Brown put on a fantastic performance, making all 6 lifts with a 103kg snatch and a 133kg clean and jerk, leaving her with an impressive 236kg total and another British title.

The final group of the competition was the men’s 105kg class, this group saw Mackenzie Middleton take the junior British title with a 240kg total and Prosper Armstrong take first for the U23 group, clearing 2nd place by a staggering 46kg.