Daniel Bellion 2nd Dan

Another Gold for Daniel In October 2004 Daniel took part in the Irish Junior Open Championships and struck gold. In November 2004 he will be entering the British Junior championships. He has won this twice already and we are hoping for three times lucky - with Daniel's experience he should do well. Watch this spot!

Daniel's Grandad (who doubles up as Grandad to everybody else at the club) has reported more astonishing news about his (Daniel's) latest achievements. They speak for themselves, read on:

Daniel begins 2004 on a high Congratulations to Daniel for winning a medal at the Matsumae Cup in Vienna, Austria on the 21st February, 2004. Daniel gained a well earned bronze after beating a Japanese and a Slovak player on the way up.

Daniel ends 2003 on a high On the 13th December 2003 Daniel took part in the British National Finals and gained 5th place. The day after - on the 14th December 2003 he fought in the British u/20s Junior Trials and gained Gold Daniel is now the British number one at u/100kg category. Well done Daniel We are also thrilled to learn that he has been selected for the Senior Belgium B Tournament Open. We hope to hear lots more about Daniel's achievements in 2004!

Sarajevo 23rd November 2003 Daniel has been selected for the Junior European Champions representing Great Britain in the u/100kg category

IRISH OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS 18thOctober 2003

Daniel won Gold (Junior) Gold beating the Welsh No. 1 by ippon. And Gold in the Senior Competition - six fights all won by ippon - beating the Irish No. 1 and Commonwealth No. 5 in the final with a strangle. In the OPEN WEIGHT category he won silver after six fights - winning five by ippon - beaten only in the final by the ex-world wrestling champion (from Moldova). During the day he beat opponents from France, Russia and Denmark.

SCOTTISH OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS 25th October 2003 Gold (Junior) beating two opponents by ippon Thanks Grandad for all this latest information

The (nearly) very latest about Daniel - three more medals - they just keep coming!: 1. Daniel took part in the Junior British Open International Championships at Crystal Palace in August 2003 at under 100kg. Achieved Gold. 2. He also took part in the London Tournament at Willsden Sports Centre in August 2003 at under 100kg. Achieved Gold in the junior and Bronze in the Senior event.

On the 16th February 2003 our Solihull teenage legend Daniel Bellion won his 2nd Dan - fighting his `line-up' with a broken toe! He is the youngest player to get a second dan. On the 23rd February 2003 Daniel won GOLD in the North West Open u/100kg. He plans to enter the Dutch Open on the 9th March 2003. The Club is proud to be associated with this wonderful talent. We learn he is now training full time with the National Team under Ron Inman and Mike Collan and other Japanese coaches at Bath University We also learn (03 April 2003) that following a review by the BJA PLCM (Performance Level Criteria Matrix) Daniel has been selected onto the BJA World Class Potential Plan as a catergory `F' Player. Subject to terms and conditions, Daniel may now be entitled to a Sport England Athlete Personal Award. Daniel what can we say? You are a great credit to the CLub. We wish you all the luck in the world.

On the 10 November 2002 Daniel Bellion took part in the under 18 Championships at Crystal Palace. He won GOLD beating all his opponents convincingly. He had five fights winning four by ippon and one by wazari. Buoyed by this success, Daniel intends to take part in the National over 21 Championships. We have a club legend in the making - we wish Daniel all the luck his hard work deserves.

On the 12 October 2002 Daniel Bellion participated in the Irish Open held in Dublin. In the under 21 event he came away with Gold and in the Senior event he got Silver, only losing to the Danish Senior number one. Daniel has exploded onto the International arena - it seems like only yesterday he was just a `little-big' boy starting out in the world. Now still only 16 he is terrorising both Junior and Senior opponents right across the Continent.

On the 6 October 2002 Daniel took part in the North of England Championships in Bradford and gained Gold in the under 21 category.

On the 27 June 2002 Daniel Bellion 1st Dan was entered onto the Solihull Borough Roll of Honour and presented with a medal by the Lord Mayor. He is the first Judo Player to be honoured in this way.

"A 16 year old student at Light Hall School has been appointed captain of England Cadet Judo Squad." Congratulations once again Daniel - yet another reason why the Club is very proud of you.

On Saturday the 18th May 2002 Daniel (16) won Silver fighting in the Dutch Open (Ben Masters) tournament. He beat the British Cadet No. 1 along the way but lost to the the Belgian No. 1 in the final. The next day in the German (International) Breman Masters he won Bronze managing on the way to achieve a better result than the British No. 1.. He had 4 fights - won 3 - beating the British No. 1, the German No. 1, the Dutch No. 2, losing only in the final. Well done Daniel

On Saturday the 6th April 2002 Daniel fought in the Brussels Junior Internationals and won bronze. He had 6 fights - won 5 and lost 1. In March 2002 Daniel fought in the Bremen Junior Masters, Germany. He had 6 fights; won 4 and lost 2. Two Japanese won gold and silver. Daniel won bronze, the only European to gain a medal. Well done Daniel

Daniel Bellion strikes silver in Brussells

More medals for Daniel: 27-05-01 Silver at the Willesdon Cadet open International 02-06-01 Bronze at the Ben Masters International u/18's (Holland) 10-06-01 Bronze at the Venray International u/18's (Holland) His Grandfather has told the editor that Daniel has only just turned fifteen - you should see him!