Judo: Keightley Watson wins double bronze in Hong Kong

Whanganui's Keightley Watson, second from right, was on the podium twice at the 2018 Asian Cup first leg in Hong Kong. Photo/ Supplied

Whanganui heavyweight judoka Keightley Watson has made a solid start to the 2018 Asian Cup with two podium finishes in the first leg in Hong Kong.

Keightley won two bronze medals over the weekend in the cadets plus 90kg weight category and then backed that up with an identical placing in the junior men's category.

It gave the Whanganui 17-year-old half of the four medals won by the eight-strong New Zealand team in Hong Kong.

Team mate Rihari Iki, who is based in Perth, won silver in the cadets under 81kg and followed that up with a bronze in the junior men's under 81kg category.

The New Zealand team now move onto Macau for the second leg of the Asian tournament this weekend where they will be looking to build on the first leg of the tournament.

Meanwhile, Watson's younger brother Callaghan has had success back home in New Zealand, winning gold in the intermediate school boys open held in Tauranga earlier this month where he also won silver in the intermediate over 66kg division.

The brothers are now preparing to compete in the Auckland International Judo Open which takes place in the last weekend of July.

The pair will compete in the senior boys plus 66kg shortly after Keightley Watson arrives back in New Zealand from China.

Having spend several weeks earlier this year recovering from a fractured fibula which he got after taking a knock in the Bremen Master Open in Germany, Keightley Watson was forced to miss the Oceania Championships in New Caledonia.

The rising star has a busy second half of the year planned, though, with several weeks of training and conditioning booked in the Netherlands with his mentor Grim Vuijsters.