TWO young men from Samurai Judo Club have gained their black belts.

Sam Bravo, 18, has been with the club for five years. He had been gaining contest points towards his black belt for the last six months, getting the last 20 needed at the Nottingham Open recently.

Already having passed the technical exam, he has now been awarded the grade.

Andrea Fani,18, is from Italy and spending a year, studying in Stourbridge.

Already an Italian brown belt, he has fitted in quickly with the Samurai club and gained his contest points in just three events.

He then had to complete the technical exam, which he did last week, and he too has now been awarded his black belt.

Meanwhile, some of the younger players have also been promoted.

Dan Hickinbottom moves to orange belt after the recent Mini-Me Open event.

Top yellow belts went to Martin Allen and Bonnie Deeming-Lane, while Cerys Jones and Luke Mole were rewarded for their hard work by being promoted to middle yellow, and Toby Grosvenor gained his yellow belt.

Lola Grosvenor and Maddi Haywood moved to top red belt, with Jacob Priestnall-Singh, Harrison Flello, Meghann O’Sullivan and Alex Spencer all moving to middle red. Penny Deeming-Lane, Rhea Turner, Matt Burford and Katy Jennings all received their first grade of red belt.