Lily Rafferty: Carluke judo sensation wins gold medal at Welsh Open

The 12-year-old Lanark Grammar pupil’s excellence came at last weekend’s Welsh Open, where she stormed to a gold medal in the U57kg class.

Her dad Mark told the Carluke and Lanark Gazette: “Every single one of Lily’s wins was by ippon, the highest score in judo. A lot of the girls were older and stronger, so it was a great achievement.

“Lily absolutely dominated all of them, including one she won in just 15 seconds.

“Lily won a European silver medal this summer but getting gold in Wales is by far her best achievement.

“She is over the moon and raring to go at this weekend’s Scottish Championships in Motherwell and the British Championships in Birmingham two weeks later.”

Lily, a member of Destination Judo in Livingston, trains four or five times a week and her main coach is Colin Wood.

She needs sponsorship for travel/hotel costs when competing – help by emailing [email protected]