Philippa powers into the picture
Friday 23rd January 2009, 11:43AM GMT.
Anything you can do, I can do too! That’s Philippa Howell’s message to sister Gemma after proving there’s more than one judo star in the family.
Shropshire ace Gemma, 18, has already won titles across the world and is hotly tipped as a Great Britain prospect for the London Olympics in 2012.
The Telford-based teen added the latest gold medal to her ever-growing collection at the Welsh age-banded judo championships in Cardiff, coming out on top in the under-57kgs section.
But younger sister Philippa, 14, has also started to make progress in the sport and showed her promise as she won bronze in the under-52kgs category.
The Wrockwardine Wood School pupil won her first fight, winning a close contest against the Irish representative.
She lost her second contest, also in a period of extra time, and was then beaten in the semi-finals by the eventual gold medalist to take bronze.
The sisters live in Priorslee in Telford, and Gemma is now focusing on her next overseas adventure – heading to Sofia in Bulgaria this weekend for a World Cup competition that also doubles up as an Olympic qualifier.
There will be more Shropshire representation in Sofia with Sarah Adlington, who is now based in Edinburgh but hails from Bayston Hill, taking part in the over-78kgs section.
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