KIDDERMINSTER judo star Kate Walker gave her London 2012 hopes a shot in the arm after a fantastic performance to finish runner-up at the British Senior Championships.

The 22-year-old put behind a tough 12 months to give herself a chance of earning selection to the Great Britain squad by beating her main rival in the under-63 kilogram section Faith Pittman.

While she lost in the final to GB veteran Sarah Clarke, who is dropping down to the 57kg section in a bid for glory in London this summer, this result will have given her confidence a massive boost.

The Samurai Judo Club member still has it all to do to achieve her dream of representing the nation and must taste win a medal in one of the World Cup events in Bulgaria, Hungary and Poland over the next six weeks.

Walker is currently ranked outside the top 100 in the world after being ruled out by a persistent shoulder injury which forced her to write off the last year. With Pittman ranked just inside the top 50, she has must pull out all the stops but is now fully fit after a frustrating year.

Coach Andrew Haffner said: “Kate looked strong and well-focused. The Olympic place won’t be decided on this result.

“She still has ground to catch up after missing so much time last year with her shoulder injury.

“But she has given herself a fighting chance. She conceded only one score in the entire competition but more importantly she was scoring well herself and creating good openings.”

Walker started the tournament brilliantly and easily saw off the lower-ranked opponents.

Against Essex-based rival Pittman, Walker dominated and clinched victory after her Olympic rival picked up penalties for excessive defending. In the final, Clarke edged out Walker with a late score.

Meanwhile, club-mate Charis Hancocks gave it her best shot in her first time at the tournament but Sarah Biles missed out because of family illness.