SAMURAI hosted their men’s Open Kyu Grades Championships which featured 30 clubs.

The tournament started with a veterans category which featured a number of Samurai dads, followed by an open age section which many of them also fought in.

James Walker made an assured debut in the veterans lightweights.

Maximum point wins against players from Hereford, Long Eaton, Bishop Stortford and clubmate Mark Allen took him into the final against a Birmingham player.

Even this did not last long and Walker won by a maximum point throw to take the gold, while Allen defeated a Hereford player to take the bronze.

Mark Flello was competing in the veterans heavyweights but just missed out on a medal, losing to a Nuneaton player in his last contest.

The open age section was split into lower grades and higher grades In the lower grades section, Lewis Mills powered to the final and defeated new team-mate Mathieu James to take gold.

In a different weight group, Allen reached the final before losing to a Hereford player.

Mark Flello was in the heavyweight lower grades and did well to reach the final before losing to a much younger and physically stronger player from Wolverhampton, but was very pleased with the silver medal.

Sam Bravo progressed well to the final of the higher grade lightweights but had to settle for silver after losing to an opponent from Somerset.

Walker had a good go in the higher grades middleweights and two fine wins earned him the bronze medal.

Stefan Newbury took the other bronze with a superb maximum point throw against a player from Somerset. In the light-heavyweights, there was bronze for Andy Gallacher, while Flello took bronze in the heavyweight division.