KATE Walker had the fight of her life in the homeland of judo at Tokyo’s awesome dome.

The Kidderminster Samurai Judo Club star finished joint ninth out of 25 world-class competitors in the Japan Grand Slam tournament.

It is traditionally the strongest of the Olympic ranking events for seniors and Walker was chosen as one of England’s top two players.

Her under 63kgs category looked as tough as any but she had spent two weeks training in the country.

Walker’s first opponent was Danielli Barbosa, ranked 35 in the world and from strong judo nation Brazil.

Although the underdog, the Worcestershire competitor had clearly not read the script.

From the start, Walker dominated the gripping, getting plenty of attacks in.

Just before the two-minute mark, Barbosa, forced totally onto the back foot, received a warning penalty for defensive posture.

But she received a second after three-and-a-half minutes which handed Walker the points advantage and she extended that with a third penalty.

Even without scoring herself, she had done enough to win and get into the second round.

In an even tougher contest with world number 11 Marille Pruvost from France, Walker again controlled the grips and forced a first-minute penalty.

It looked as if Walker had a chance of a superb win only to pull a shoulder muscle as the two players went to ground. Pruvost was able to secure a groundhold and, unable to escape, Walker had to submit.

It was in the round immediately before the quarter-finals so, no matter what Pruvost did in the remaining rounds, Walker was not brought back into the bronze repechage system.

However, she finished joint ninth in the final positions, which was certainly one of her best results to date.

For details about starting judo or joining the Samurai club, call 07761-122977 or visit samurai.org.uk.