Shropshire heavyweight judoka Sarah Adlington claimed a brilliant bronze at the prestigious GB Women’s World Cup at the NIA in Birmingham.

The high-profile all-female event, which featured 140 competitors from 22 countries, is part of the International Judo Federation’s world circuit.

Hosts Britain fielded a 24-strong team with Adlington looking to add to a string of 2010 titles including wins at the British Open, National Team Championships and Russian European Cup.

Shrewsbury’s Adlington, 24, started with a bye in the first round of the over-78kgs section on Sunday.

The Bayston Hill-born judoka lost out to five-time European champion Anne-Sophie Mondiere of France in round two.

The defeat saw her enter the hunt for a bronze medal via the repechage.

Edinburgh-based Adlington had a bye in the first round of the repechage before taking on Emilie Andeol in the bronze medal match where a waza-ari score was enough for Adlington to take bronze.

“The performances were more important, but it was good to get a bronze medal at the end,” said Adlington.

“The final was a tough fight, but I have been working on my conditioning.”

Telford’s Gemma Howell, 20, from Telford, came through the pool stages of the under-57kgs section in impressive fashion.

She beat Finland’s Satu Lehikoinen and Germany’s Miriam Garmatter before losing a quarter-final against Sarah Loko of France.

The defeat saw Howell, who finished seventh in her maiden appearance at the World Championships last month, revert to the repechage, where she lost out to China’s Yang Liu.

In the under-48kgs category Telford’s Kelly Edwards, 19, bowed out after losing to Poland’s Ewa Konieczny.

By CHRIS HUDSON