Shropshire Olympian Danny Williams injured
hropshire Olympian Danny Williams is hoping an arm injury will not derail his aim of competing at two major European judo competitions.
Shrewsbury-born Williams, who represented Team GB at London 2012, hurt his arm during the British Judo Championships in Sheffield at the weekend.
The extent of the injury is not yet known but it could yet rule him out of the European Open in Tblisi next month, as well as the European Championships in Budapest in April.
Williams, who is now based in Camberley, won his first three bouts in Sheffield on Sunday in the Men's U73 category but was beaten by an armlock in his fourth contest.
He was due to have a scan yesterday to help determine the extent of the injury, but is hopeful that he could be sufficiently recovered within a week if the damage is not serious.
He said: "I got caught in an armlock in my second match and didn't tap quickly enough. I'm getting an X-ray and I'm hoping it will not affect the season.
"A common injury when you are armlocked is it can tear some of the bone away. I am hoping it is just ligament stretching."
"I hope I can still compete in Georgia. It is a really good event because it is in the heart of Eastern Europe.
"It's such a small country and Judo is their national sport so they go crazy for it.
"But if it needs surgery it will rule out the next few months so that would be the European Championships missed as well."
Both competitions feature highly in his priorities this season, which will also see him aiming for a place at the World Championships in Brazil in August.
Williams said he had been aiming for gold in Sheffield at the weekend and was disappointed not to have reached his goal.
But the bigger picture relies on him performing well against international rather than domestic competition.
He said: "I'm still quite young and still coming through on the international scene.
"I have consistently performed better abroad in the last few years."
