FRESH from its success at the Greater Manchester Youth Games, Tonge Judo Club scooped a clutch of medals at the UK Sambo Wrestling Championships held at the English Olympic Wrestling Club in Salford.
Sambo is a Russian Military Combat Art that is a mixture of Judo, Greco-Roman Wrestling, Freestyle Wrestling, Mongolian Wrestling and Ju Jitsu.
It was developed by the Spetnaz, the Russian Special Forces.
New to this sport, the club surprised many with the quality of their performance.
Thomas Delve, in the under-12s under 35kgs category, and Shaun Brickell in the under-16s under 45kgs came away with Gold.
In the same class, Warren Brickell and Danny Robinson scooped Silver and Bronze respectively.
Star of the show was Keith Harper, aged 27. Keith is a newcomer to Judo and was entered to gain experience in the sport in the open age under 100kgs class.
He went on to put in an inspired performance that saw him defeat a series of opponents including Darren Richardson, a former British International, on his way to the final.
There he narrowly lost to Brendan Roberts from the Phoenix Club in Bury but pocketed silver to underline just what a terrific prospect he is in the sport.
Overall, Tonge finished in third place in the championships to take the bronze medal.
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