SAMURAI’S girls reasserted their dominance over the boys by winning four gold medals at the Worcestershire Open Championships.

The Wyre Forest outfit topped the medals table, with Gloucestershire’s Devizes Judo Club, Devon’s South Brent Judo Club and Buckinghamshire’s 61 Judo Club providing much of the opposition.

Ellie McAteer started the ball rolling with an emphatic gold medal, winning all of her three contests within a minute each.

She beat a Kettering player in the quarter-final, a Birmingham girl in the semi-final and a Welsh girl in the final, in each case with a rapid high-scoring throw into a groundhold.

Newcomer Felicity Warburton-Harris did well to win a silver medal despite her inexperience, losing to a Birmingham player in the final, while Sian Bobrowska took a second gold with another emphatic performance, defeating players from London and Devizes in the quarter and semi finals respectively and then beating a Plymouth girl in the final.

Bobrowska then stepped up to the next weight level and defeated clubmate Lauren Fletcher, who was then edged out of the medals after losing a tight contest against a Camarthen girl by a single score.

Sian then took gold after beating Sophie Deeming-Lane in the semi-finals.

Olivia Turner, fresh from her triumph in the European Special Needs Championships last weekend, then made it four golds for the girls by winning all three of her contests. An Aylesbury girl gave her the most difficulty in the final, but she gained a good score and held on to it to win the gold. Ellie Warburton-Harris added a bronze for the club.

The boys campaign started with James Hemer taking an excellent win against a London player and then throwing a Birmingham player for maximum points to reach his semi-final, which he won in less than a minute with two high scores against a Worcester player. This put him into the final against another Birmingham player, where he had to settle for silver.

James was doing well when he unfortunately landed badly and injured his elbow and had to withdraw and settle for the silver medal.

Jake Ashen fought well in the next weight category but he was unable to get into the medal places, while Jake McAteer won bronzes at different weight groups.