A team of young martial artists from Northern Ireland are celebrating after claiming a number of medals at the Manchester Youth Karate Championships.
The squad returned from England with several medals after competing against opposition from the rest of the United Kingdom.
North Belfast girl Tierna Lavery clinched a runner-up medal at the competition, while Jamie Gibson (11) from Armagh and Jack Carson (15) from West Belfast also took bronze medals in their respective categories – Jack in both free fighting and technical events.
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The rising stars from each of the four nations of the United Kingdom – England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland – travelled to the city in the north-east of England.
Tierna powered her way through the elimination rounds, dominating the opposition with explosive techniques and fighting spirit which were exemplary for someone of her young age.
She made her way to the finals where she put in an impressive performance just losing out on the championship title by a narrow margin. Tierna had to settle for bringing a silver medal home to Belfast.
Jamie also wiped out his opponents on his way through the preliminary fights, narrowly missing out on a place in the finals.
The youngsters were part of a six-strong youth squad which also included Alex Crowe (10) from West Belfast, Cole Orr (10) from South Belfast and nine-year-old Joseph McBride from Bangor. This is their first tournament overseas tournament and Northern Ireland coach James Brunton is delighted with the squad’s success in Manchester.
“This was the largest tournament which these youngsters had taken part in and for a six-strong team to come home with four medals is quite an achievement,” James said.
“The squad will I am sure go from strength to strength as they gain in experience and confidence."
James added: “These kids had been training hard for this competition and we will now sit down and plan out a training and competition schedule for them next year.
“I have no doubt they will continue to progress and take more medals in the future”.
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