DUNFERMLINE junior judo star Ryan Turnbull enjoyed a double celebration at the end of April.

He won the silver medal at the Commonwealth Cadet Judo Championships held in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, in the same week he was admitted to the British Judo Association’s Dan Register, formal recognition of his achievement of his black belt in the sport.

The St Columba’s High School pupil was the only one of the four male Scottish judoka selected for the trip to make the final of the inaugural Commonwealth Cadet Championships.

Having also reached the repechage final of the Sportif International and won the bronze medal in the Northern Irish Open within the previous month, Turnbull went into the Commonwealths in excellent form and further enhanced his reputation with an impressive performance.

Having made it through to the quarter-finals, he faced a South African athlete fighting in front of his home crowd but Turnbull dominated the fight, throwing his opponent with an ouchi-gari technique for a yuko score, followed by a quick transition into a strangle to force the local athlete to tap out.

A similar combination accounted for another host country athlete in the semi-final, with the Duloch resident again showing great awareness to convert a drop morote seoi nage throw for wazari into a newaza ippon.

In the final, the Scot faced Northern Ireland’s Matthew Elliott and despite a brave effort, it was Turnbull who was forced to submit when the contest took to the floor, the Ulster fighter applying a strong armlock technique to take the gold medal.

Turnbull’s silver medal performance followed confirmation of his black belt, for which he had to complete a ‘line-up’ of five straight victories at a Judo Scotland National Grading held in Glenrothes.

Many fighters can take years to accumulate the necessary points for their black belt but Turnbull did so at the first attempt and then also completed the rigorous practical theory test.

After a short break for exams, the 16-year-old will return to the tatami next month at the Venray International tournament in Holland, alongside fellow Dunfermline Destination Judo Club members Emma Forrest, Kirsty Marsh and Fiona Todman, who have also been selected to represent Scotland at the event.