Judo: Lowe on golden high

Samantha Lowe, of England, put a month of trauma behind her with a brilliant victory in Manchester yesterday. Lowe strangled Canada's Catherine Roberge in a quick-fire victory in the Under-70kg final to settle the argument over her selection in preference to the Olympic medallist Kate Howey.

Lowe said: "I was really pleased the crowd was so behind me and hopefully that shows that they believed I should be here.''

The heavyweight Simone Callender and light heavyweight Michelle Rogers also won golds for England. Rogers edged past Jo Melen, of Wales, in a thrilling and tight Under-78kg final that had the crowd on its feet. Despite fighting in her first major tournament since winning gold at the World Student Games last year, Rogers, 26, showed no match rustiness. She always held the upper hand and confirmed her victory with a low shoulder throw that scored yuko.

Callender, 24, dominated the Over-78kg competition beating four opponents to take the title. The Olympic silver medallist Nicolas Gill proved he was a class above the rest in claiming Canada's second judo gold in the men's Under-100kg final. Gill beat England's Sam Delahay with a maximum ippon score from a forceful leg sweep. And the Fijian Nacanieli Qerewaqa won his country's first judo gold in the men's Over-100kg category, beating England's Danny Sargent in the final.