OLYMPIC hopeful Kate Walker made a winning return to action after an 11-month lay-off by taking gold at the Scottish Open.

The Samurai Judo Club star had been out of action after surgery on an injured shoulder but she announced her return to competition by winning a strong under-63 kilogram weight category in the senior category.

Overall it was a good day for the Kidderminster-based club, with Sarah Biles winning silver in the junior section and bronze in the seniors, while Tom Walker performed well also.

Despite both of her rivals for the London 2012 team absent, Kate Walker came up against a collection of strong European rivals.

Her first two contests were against the eventual bronze medalists, so it looked like a tough start, but Walker made it look easy.

Maximum point score followed maximum point score, as the Samurai star powered to the final, where she saw off a Scottish fighter, to win gold and announce in no uncertain terms to the British judo world that she is back in business.

The two-day event had started on Saturday with the under-20s competition, which had Biles in action.

She started strongly, with some particularly good groundwork, and a series of maximum point wins took her into the final against a Scottish opponent.

The Samurai student looked favourite but after seeing a legitimate throw ruled out by the referee, Biles had to settle for silver in the end.

In the senior section the following day, she powered into the semi-final, beating a Polish fighter on the way, to meet the British number one in the last four.

Despite dominating the early stages of the bout, she tasted defeat when her opponent used her superior strength.

But she bounced back in the repechage and saw off another physically strong opponent to earn an unexpected bronze medal.

Meanwhile, Tom Walker lost a close tie to a Polish opponent, bounced back to beat an Irish rival but exited the competition after losing to a top British competitor.