A FIFTEEN-strong Samurai squad took on a host of international players to win eight medals at the Sportif Scottish International Open in Edinburgh.

The Edinburgh event featured 500 fighters s from Canada, South Africa, Spain, France, Sweden, Hungary, Norway and the Republic of Ireland Eire as well as the four home nations.

But the Wyre Forest club more than held their own to take sixth place.

Even more importantly from the club’s point of view, all 15 players worked tremendously hard at the three-day camp which followed the event, where they received were being coached coaches by some world-class coaching from es and former players and Olympians, as well as lots more practice contest work against top players.

James Hemer is still coming to terms with the extra strength needed after stepping up to the under-34 kilogram section but did well, while Jake Ashen was a creditable seventh in the U-38kg section.

Jack Walker won the club’s first medal of the day in theU-50kg weight group. Following a series of good wins against players from Hull and Scotland saw him reach the final, where he lost on a single low score to a Tayside player but was still happy with the silver medal.

Matt Hemer took bronze in the U-42kg group after roaring into the semi-finals.

He then bounced back from defeat to the eventual winner in the bronze match.

Samurai’s girls were also in good form, with Leah Grosvenor, Sian Bobrowska and Darcie Hancocks performing well in the same U-48kgs section.

Up against a South African, several Scottish players and Sussex’s Mollie Game, Grosvenor She started brightly and reached the semi-final but was hampered by illness in defeat.

Illness also forced her to pull out of the bronze play-off against Bobrowska, who had powered into the quarter-finals, ensuring a medal for her Samurai team-mate a medal.

Hancocks looked good and won her way to the semi-final on maximum points and then hammered the Londoner who had beaten Sian to book her place in the final.

She started the final brightly, but then made a single mistake and was thrown and had to settle for silver.

In the over-63kg section, Olivia Turner powered to gold.

Nathan Gallacher won silver in the U-46kg, while Becky Hobby and Paige Wilkes both bagged bronzes in their weight categories.