SAMURAI judo stars James Hemer and Leah Grosvenor covered themselves in glory when winning gold at the Welsh Open Championships.

Hemer, who has already got two British National Championships under his belt, was in a different class to everyone else.

He won all his contests by maximum points after adopting superb tactics and always picked the right moment to pounce.

Recent illness couldn’t prevent Leah Grosvenor from sweeping all her opponents aside with consummate ease.

Unbeaten in Britain since September, Leah wasted no time, winning all four of her matches inside 30 seconds.

The organisers even asked Leah if she would move up two weight categories to give the silver medal winner from that section an extra contest – but Leah still won in a matter of seconds.

Cerys Jones and Martin Allen were also competing in Wales.

Allen took both the gold and silver while Cerys Jones went on to claim bronze.

Four Samurai members were in action at the Brecht Open in Antwerp where Olivia Turner won a silver medal while Lucas Kent just missed out on bronze.

Laura Dangerfield also won a silver medal at the team competition in Belgium.

Closer to home, Rob Alloway won a bronze medal in the masters at the Northern Home Counties Open.

Anyone interested in taking up judo should contact 07761 122977 or visit the Samurai website on www.samurai.org.uk