Hampton schoolboy Ashley Bryant has secured a place in the English Schools Combined Events Championships at Bedford in September.

He qualified by representing Surrey in the South East Counties Schools Combined Events meeting at Kingsmeadow over the weekend.

However, he was a reluctant competitor and exerted the minimum effort.

Bryant finished third in the senior boys’ decathlon with 5,975 points well below his best of 7,267 set when finishing third in the English Championship at Stoke-on-Trent a fortnight earlier.

He won four of the 10 disciplines, the 110m hurdles (15.17), pole vault (4.10m), javelin (56.17m) and shot (12.97m), was second in the discus (37.80m) and long jump (6.75m) and fourth in the high jump (1.80m).

Apart from the pole vault where he equalled his season’s best, Bryant’s performances were well below par.

His dad Ken said: “We did not want to be at Kingston this weekend, but at the England Championships at Bedford trying to get the European Juniors individual javelin qualification.

“English schools said they would not give Ashley a ‘bye’ and if he wanted to compete in the English Schools combined events finals in September he needed to turn up at the qualification round at Kingston.

“As a consequence very little effort was expended in the heat, but just enough to qualify with an official top-three individual finish.

“The 400m was a stroll and Ashley did not finish the 1,500m. The only pleasing event was the pole vault.”

Bryant, who attends Halliford School, Shepperton, heard on Monday he has been selected to represent Great Britain in the decathlon at the European junior championships in Novi Sad, Serbia, from July 23 to 26. He is one of three British competitors in the event.

Herne Hill Harriers’ Blade Ashby beat older brother Thomas’s club U17 octathlon record at Kingsmeadow on Sunda.

Representing London, he also booked a place in the English schools event at Bedford in September.

Ashby, 15, added almost 600 points to the mark held by Thomas when he finished fourth with 4,733 points in his first octathlon competition.

The previous mark of 4,150 was set at Crawley in September 2006.

Ashby achieved lifetime bests in winning the 100m hurdles (13.61 seconds) and long jump (6.69m). He also set a PB 52.38m in finishing third in the 400m and was second in the high jump.