BLACKBURN arm wrestling ace Neil Pickup picked up one of the best wins of his career to lift the American Open in Las Vegas.

The current European champion and world number two moved up a division to beat world champion Cvetan Gashevski of Bulgaria in the 90kg category.

Pickup was in formidable form throughout the event which also earned him third place overall.

And it was double joy for the Pickups as World champion sister landed another title after beating USA holder Judy Dodd in the ladies 65kg category.

Neil said: "This is one of the best results of my career because I felt like I was unbeatable. Cvetan Gashevski is the current world champion in my weight of 85kg but I felt very strong against him. Like the big Bulgarian I moved up a weight but I will be stripping down to defend my European title in Sweden in July."

Darwen's Andy Barker continues to impress and finished in sixth place in the 80kg category while Alison Cox, also of Darwen, finished in second place in the 50kg. The quartet, all members of the Blackburn-based Northern Armwrestling Association, are hoping to compete in the Norwegian Open next week before the European championships in Stockholm.