JUDO: Amy Darch decimated the opposition at the Redditch Open as a squad of four Samurai players clocked up a total of seven medals at the event.

Twelve year-old Darch started in her own weight group, under 50kg, and with her usual blend of all-out attacking, she bulldozed her way to the gold medal.

Hungry for more contests, she entered the top girls weight, over 55kg, but the weight disadvantage barely slowed her down.

Players of 65kg or more just could not stand up against her for more than a few seconds as she cruised imperiously to her second gold medal of the day.

After careful consideration with her coach, Darch (pictured right) then entered the senior ladies section.

And the youngster came up with six maximum point throws in a row.

She finished this off with two maximum point hold-downs to go into the senior final, where she suffered her only defeat of the day for a silver medal.

Faced with that sort of form, even the brilliant Kate Walker found it difficult to be the Samurai star.

Walker had a tough category, under 36kg, with several national medallists but fought well to take the gold.

She was then allowed to enter under 40kg as well and, like Amy, showed that skill can defeat the extra weight by reaching the final and coming away with a silver.

Lee Davenport also had a tough category in the boys under 50kg but some good work saw him get into the final before losing to an experienced player.

Anthony Todhunter added a fourth silver for the club by reaching the boys over 55kg final but his 62kg frame was somewhat dwarfed by a 91kg boy.

Davenport and Todhunter both won silver medals at the London Open as well as a bronze for Walker and Darch's fifth place.

The popular Davenport, 12, could not be slowed down until the final, impressing by following throwing scores up with ground-holds.

But Davenport came up against a fine final opponent and lost by three low scores in a close encounter.

Junior brown belt Todhunter, 15, had several British medallists in his U-66kg weight division but he got to work with carefully controlled judo.

He built up scores steadily in each contest until his lead became overwhelming, before moving in for the big final throws.

This policy took him to the final but here an exceptionally good player threw him superbly to leave Todhunter with the silver medal.

In the girls, Walker faced a whole group of national medallists but made her way to the semi-final with determined work before losing to a player from Willesden. However, she came back to win the bronze.

There were tough categories all over in a good competition and Darch had the British Champion in her first contest.

In a fast and furious battle, her comparative inexperience finally caused her to lose.

Darch fought back well through the repechage contests but lost the bronze play-off against a blue belt.

Ben Newbury won several contests well and Sam Stone also put in a good performance. Both players finished seventh in their categories.

With so many new junior members, the Samurai are starting a new beginners class on Wednesday nights.