SAMURAI Judo Club scooped seven gold medals at events across the country.

They bagged three gold medals at the South Wales Open in Newport from their four entrants, two golds out of two players at the Nottingham Senior Open and two golds out of two players at the Droitwich Junior Open.

At the South Wales Open in Newport, Maddi Haywood looked on very good form ad defeated everybody comfortably to get to the final. On paper the final against a local girl looked to be a tricky one, but Maddi just went up through the gears and blew her opponent away to take the gold.

Sophie Davis also looked on form and reached her final equally comfortably, but then unleashed a brilliant throw, probably the best of her judo career to date, to beat a very good Welsh player and take the gold in her weight.

Callum Spencer won all four of his contests comfortably to take the gold in his weight group. James Harrison, having lost his semi-final in his own weight category against the run of play but having come back to win his last contestr for the bronze, also entered Callum’s heavier weight group and did well to win the bronze there as well.

Two young Samurai black belts, Jack Walker and Lucas Kent, entered the Nottingham Senior Open. Lucas took a comfortable gold in the senior men’s under 90 kilos weight group, and then entered an open weight category specifically for black belts and added another bronze there, also taking points towards his second level black belt.

Meanwhile Jack Walker cruised to gold in his weight group and then also entered a second category, a higher grades open. Three wins and some excellent judo saw him into the final against a very experienced black belt from Stoke. This turned out to be the best contest of the day, with both players attacking well and the contest going into golden score. After seven minutes of excellent judo from both players, Jack was caught by a very good throw and had to settle for silver, but this was a fine match.

Brothers Luke and Jordan Phillips entered the Droitwich Junior Open, a comparatively minor event but a useful run-out for them. With seven wins out of seven between them, the youngsters both took golds. Luke also entered a heavier weight group and reached the final there before losing and finishing with silver.

For details about starting judo, telephone 0776 1122977 or visit the Samurai website on www.samurai.org.uk or their Facebook page. The club is open throughout the summer.