SAMURAI Judo Club is celebrating after one of their players helped Great Britain to European medal glory.

In a career-best performance Rob Alloway was part of the GB men's team that took bronze at the European Veterans Championships.

The four-day event included more than 1,200 competitors, Samurai had three players competing in the individual events.

Club member and former world champion Mike Chamberlain started well, beating Ismayilov from Azerbaijan in the first round before narrowly losing on penalties to Laats of Belgium in round two.

He reached the bronze play-off but got caught on the edge of the mat against Mbani of France and was thrown and finished fifth.

Alloway and current British Champion Gary Knight both finished ninth in their individual categories.

Alloway moved up a weight category to under 73 kilos in the team event which featured entries from the strongest judo nations in Europe..

The GB team had a tough opening match against France B team. Judo is a major sport in France with over three quarters of a million players compared to around fifty thousand in Great Britain.

The British team edged out a 3-2 win and followed up with a 5-0 win against Sweden to put themselves into the semi-final against France A which they lost 3-2.

This left the British with a tough final match against Spain for the bronze.

Because of the weight difference, Alloway's opponent towered over him and pulled him around effortlessly.

The Spaniard attacked and gained a minor score but Alloway side-stepped his next move and, using his opponent’s momentum, threw the Spanish player completely onto his back for a maximum point score to win.

The unexpected victory inspired the British to a 4-1 victory, France A went on to easily defeat Germany in the final.

Samurai head coach, Andrew Haffner, said: “Rob always gives 100 per cent effort and this result and a European medal is a great reward for his efforts."