JUDO: Samurai Judo Club proved to be the top club in the Midlands at the Bushido Open Championships with 15 medals.

All 37 clubs involved fielded their best squad but Samurai finished four medals ahead of the second-placed opposition.

They started the boys section strongly with Greg Oertel gaining U-27kgs gold after beating bronze-winning team-mate Wesley Connor in the semis.

Benji Connor and Tom Walker won a lot of contests between them but both finished fifth only for the medal winning to be continued by John Connor.

He took bronze in the upper lightweight category alongside an excellent middleweight third place for Lee Davenport.

In the open category for up to 46kgs, J Connor won silver and Ben Newbury took away a bronze.

In the girls, Samurai's Amy Oertel and Emily Watson reached the final of the lightest group.

Watson, in her first big tournament, did well and recorded a maximum-point throw against an orange belt but A Oertel took the final honours.

In the U-44kgs category, Kate Walker was in a different class to the opposition in grabbing the gold.

Ellen Ingram reached the U-52kgs final after a third consecutive win over a top Midlands opponent but lost to a useful player in the end. Charlotte Connor added a bronze in the same category.

Amy Darch moved up a weight group impressively and managed a bronze against older girls.

In the top girls category, Emmy Kimberley began well and swept into the final only to suffer her only defeat of the day to end up with silver.

K Walker entered the middleweights open but lost at the final stage to an older, heavier and more experienced international.

In the heavyweight open, a tired Ingram did well to finish fifth, while Darch won a bronze.

Samurai were especially pleased with the team display, considering they put as much emphasis on the less competitive elements of judo like kata, technical skill and junior refereeing.