Shropshire judo star Gemma Howell headed the medal rush for British judokas in the European Cup event held in Celje, Slovenia.

Howell, from Telford, showed she had recovered from a 10-month injury lay off as she won her opening three matches to qualify for the final where she defeated Hungarian Hedvig Karakas.

Howell, who had been competing in the under 63kg category prior to the tournament but won gold in the 57kg section, defeated German Hannah Brueck and Swiss star Eva Erlebach in the preliminary rounds before ousting Anja Pechnak in the semi-final.

And team-mate Sarah Adlington was also among the medals as she took a bronze in the +78kg section.

Adlington, from Bayston Hill near Shrewsbury, faced a trio of German opponents in her category and after a victory in her opening round, she was then defeated in the semi final before recovering to win the fight for third place against Sabrina Pfortner.

It wasn’t such good news for Telford’s Kelly Edwards who lost to Dutchwoman Miranda Wolfslag in her opening match in the -52kg category.

The British squad won six medals in total including two golds.

Next on the agenda for team GB is the Moscow Grand Slam event held on the first weekend of July.

And joining the three county competitors from Slovenia will be Shrewsbury’s Danny Williams who, along with Howell and Edwards, will be making a Grand Slam debut.

By ALEX JAMES