SEVEN young members of Farnham School of Tae Kwon Do competed in the GTI British Open Championships in Cheltenham last weekend and added three more medals to the club’s impressive tally for 2015.

Sophie Raine and Will Houghton were both competing in their sixth tournament of the year and were joined by Daisy Johnson, Estelle Eltham, Ollie Verrian, Ryan Millane and Jacob Stoneman. All seven competed in the individual patterns event but, despite some technically strong performances, the Farnham contingent fell short of the medal positions.

Ryan Millane, aged eight and competing in a national tournament for the first time, battled his way to a bronze medal in his height and weight division in boys’ yellow and green belt point lightweight point-stop sparring. Ten-year-old Ollie Verrian also achieved a well-deserved bronze medal in his division in boys’ yellow and green belt point-stop sparring, missing out on a place in the final by the narrowest of margins.

Jacob Stoneman, 14, fought his way to the final of his division in boys’ blue and red belt continuous sparring, winning two closely contested bouts. The final was a tense encounter and, with little to separate the spirited competitors, the bout went to extra-time which saw Jacob just miss out on gold to settle for the silver medal.

2015 has seen the junior section of Farnham School of Tae Kwon Do grow in tournament experience, with several competing for the first time. The junior squad is looking forward to competing in more tournaments in 2016 and their coach, Tim Ayres-Townshend, is hoping that their endeavours will inspire more of the club’s adult section to compete on a regular basis.