MAT maestro Harvey Burns brought home a brace of bronze medals after representing the North West in Sweden.

The Furness Judo Club youngster was part of the North West Area Judo Team fighting in the National Cup, at the Hogskolehallen Sports Centre, Halmstad.

Burns' first success came in the the pre-cadet (under-15s) category, where he won his first three fights convincing by the maximum ippon scores, showing some good judo skills.

These results put the Barrow teenager into the semi-finals, where he suffered a first defeat of the competition. However, Burns pulled himself up off the mat and went on to win his next fight and the bronze.

After his confident displays in the pre-cadets category, Burns' coach decided to move him up into the cadets (under-18s) group, where he fought really well against older competitors.

The Furness representative won two fights and lost two in a round-robin pool, but this was enough for him to come third and take his second bronze medal, including claiming his first win by an armlock submission.

The competition was followed by a three-day training camp, with various teams from around Scandanavia.

After spending only 24 hours back home, Burns set off to Belgium to fight for Team England in the Flanders International Cup at Lommel.

He won through his group stage by beating two of his opponents, reaching the knockout competition, where he won through to the second round before losing to put him out of the competition.

Furness Judo Club's Simon Burns said: “The reports back from his coaches were all positive, with Harvey giving 100 per cent and showing some great judo.

“It seems that he just got out-muscled by his opponent fighting in his new heavier weight class.

“He can also take a positive that it was the eventual gold medallist in his group that beat him in Belgium.”