JUDO fighters David Groom and Sisilia Rasokisoki returned to Kendal Judo Club with gold medals from the English Open Championships.

Groom was fighting in the U81kg weight group and won his first contest in Sheffield against Conall McGregor, before he threw Sebastian Nadal to reach the semi finals.

There he came up against Jonathan Morris from the Army and despite going half a point down early on, the Bacup man fought back to throw his opponent with a spectacular sacrifice throw.

In the final against Iain Feenan, Scotland’s number one player, Groom made no mistake throwing the Scot twice with an inner thigh throw for the winning score.

In February, Groom became Commonwealth champion in his weight category when he defeated Iain Feenan from Scotland in Cardiff.

The U81kg fighter had also been aiming to compete in the Olympics this summer before injury ruled him out of contention.

Sisilia Rasokisoki, who is training with the club to boost her Olympic hopes, may still be feeling the cold, especially as the tournament was held in an adapted ice rink, but she warmed up the comp-etition in the U78kg class.

Her contests never got past the halfway stage as she pinned Alison Wilson from the Midlands with a scarf hold. She followed this up with a tremendous sweeping ankle throw against Gemma Wright from Redbridge.

In the final against Britain’s number two ranked player, Hannah Lewis, a throw followed immediately by a hold down saw Sisi gain the Gold medal in great style.

Her win will give her great confidence as she travels in two weeks time to the Oceania qualifying tournament in Australia.