THERE was golden delight for Furness Judo Club's Harvey Burns at the Eastern Area Open Championships.

The Barrow youngster emerged victorious at Brecklands Sports Centre, Thetford Norfolk after coming through a series of tough encounters.

Burns' first fight was against a Londoner, whom he threw flat on his back for the maximum score of Ippon and an immediate success.

His next opponent was a local fighter from the eastern area and once more Burns was on top of his game, with an Ippon hold-down securing a place in the last-four.

The Furness competitor now came up against a Belgian judoka, with a third Ippon success in as many bouts – this one again by hold-down after displaying some great skills throughout – earning him a place in the final.

Burns faced a tough opponent from Newcastle to decide the champion, knowing his adversary had beaten him the last time they had come face-to-face.

That was not to be the case this time as Burns dominated the fight and won the gold with some nice groundwork to hold his opponent down again for the Ippon the maximum score.

The championship is one of the many ranking events throughout the UK, which are used at the end of the year for the England Squad selections.

Burns, who is on the England squad for 2016, is hoping this gold medal, along with some other strong results throughout year, will help towards his for selection for the 2017 squad.