WEIGHTLIFTER Sonny Webster has been picked to represent Great Britain at the World Under-20 Championships in Guatemala after helping England claim a Tri-Nations victory in Bristol last weekend.

Webster, 17, suffered from early nerves in front of a capacity crowd inside the Empire Club, failing to complete his three attempts in the snatch category, before regaining his composure to lift an impressive 160kg in the clean and jerk.

"It didn't start well for Sonny," said coach Andy Sutor. "There wasn't a problem with the weight because he's done 132kg in the snatch before. I think the occasion got to him a little bit, but it is a good learning experience for him.

"I was pleased at the guts and determination he showed to respond with an excellent display in the clean and jerk. He lifted 160kg and only narrowly missed out on breaking the current British under-18 record of 165kg."

Fellow Empire Club lifter Bradley Burrows also produced an impressive display of strength to lift a combined 195kg to win the senior category as England narrowly finished just in front of Norway to claim the Tri-Nations title.

There was also a first and second in the women's section for Olympic hopeful Zoe Smith and Birmingham's Hannah Powell.

"It is the biggest international we've ever staged at the Empire," said club owner Sutor, who also took up the role of national coach for the event. "Everything went off without a hitch and I think that everyone who came down went away happy with what they had seen.

"It was a very competitive event and our squad deserve a lot of credit for coming out on top in what was a very strong field."

Webster, meanwhile, was presented with a British Olympic Association 'Weightlifter of the Year' award by former world champion Louis Martin before the event.

Sutor received an award for 40 years of service to the sport and was also invited to stand in for Great Britain coach Tamas Seher when Webster takes on the world's best juniors in Guatemala.

Webster's more immediate assignment, however, involves a trip to Birmingham on Saturday to contest the English Championships. The European Championship follows in April ahead of the trip to Guatemala before Webster goes to the final Olympic selection trials in May hoping to claim a place in the Great Britain squad for the games in London this summer.

"There are only three more competitions for Sonny to lift well in to secure his place in the Olympics squad," said Sutor. "It's immense pressure for a 17-year-old to deal with, but Sonny has the physical and mental strength to cope with it. Sonny is improving all the time and he's young enough to train hard and recover quickly. It's just a case of performing well in the next three competitions to push his case with the selectors. There will never be another Olympics in England in his career so he's totally focused on being a part of the biggest sporting event in his lifetime."

Watch a video of Sonny Webster speaking about his hopes for London 2012