By Ben Baker

ON paper Francesca Steggall’s 2010 campaign has yet to get off the ground but the Sidcup judoka insists this year’s back to basics approach will see her soar to London 2012.

Steggall, a former Cleve Park School pupil, waved goodbye to the junior ranks this year and has spent the time in transition swatting up on new techniques to help her find her feet in the harsh world of senior competition.

The difficulty of the step up was well illustrated at the GB World Cup in Birmingham earlier this month with Steggall, who fights in the under 48kg category, bowing out in the first round.

But despite her competition woes, Steggall is adamant the hard work behind the scenes will reap long-term rewards at London 2012.

“The season hasn’t been going too badly but I have been learning a lot of new techniques so I have been trying to put them into practice on the mat and that has been the main thing for me this year,” said Steggall, speaking at a Team 2012 get-together in association with Visa.

“It is quite strange being in that time between being a junior and a senior because you are sort of in between and it is a bit of a weird time.

“You come out of being at the top of the juniors to going into the bottom of the seniors so it can be tough but you just have to stick it out.

“London 2012 is everybody’s dream at the moment and I am in the mix I think, so hopefully I will be out there representing Great Britain on probably the biggest stage of them all.

“It is going to be pretty intense in the next year or so as everyone goes for the same spot and I will be going up against a lot of my friends but I know what this means to me and I will be doing all I can to make sure I am in the best position possible.

“I think there are some good players that are showing potential so I think our medal hopes we have set ourselves are realistic as long as we get our preparation right and I hope to be one of those obviously.”

Next up on the agenda for is the European U23 Championships in Turkey next month with the 20-year-old needing to secure her spot in the team at the Swedish Open, which begins on October 30.

As part of Visa’s Team 2012 initiative, Steggall warmed up for her Swedish adventure by giving a judo masterclass at her training base at Dartford Judo Club last week.

And despite failing to light up the mat in 2010 so far, Steggall is adamant she can be part of a medal hunt in Antalya.

She said: “I am off the Sweden at the end of October which is for a B tournament and then hopefully from there I will be able to qualify for the European U23s which is the next big tournament for me.

“I have only just finished juniors this year so I still have a few years left in the U23s. I don’t think that it is unrealistic though that I could place in Bosnia and I will be going all out to do so.”