Globetrotting Whanganui heavyweight judoka Keightley Watson has a busy schedule ahead as he seeks to earn valuable International Judo Federation (IJF) and qualify for the Junior Worlds in Marrakesh, Morocco in October.
First Watson will compete for New Zealand for the first time in the Paks Junior European Cup in Paks, Hungary on June 23.
A strong field has already been carded for the European Cup 2019 tournament, including four judokas ranked inside the top 20 Junior men's +100kg on the IJF Judo world ranking list.
European cup medals at any level are a rarity on this side of the world showing the standard at these competitions.
"While Keightley will go into this tournament as the second seeded heavyweight with a current world ranking of 8th in the Junior men's plus 100kg division, it's still too close to call and this could change as more entries are received, but he also knows that will count for nothing at this level," father Ross Watson said.