Family trio in history books

STRATFORD Taekwon-Do Club are celebrating after collecting eight medals – including five gold – from the first British Taekwon-Do Championships.

Demi Barnett and sister Sky were crowned British champions in five disciplines and were named winner and runner-up in the overall youth competitor respectively as nations from three separate organisations contested the first ever united competition.

Nearly 500 competitors were involved in the event in Crawley, travelling from all over the UK, the Netherlands, Portugal, Norway and Ireland.

Demi Barnett, aged nine, won three gold medals in all her divisions, while Sky, aged eight, collected two gold medals, one for sparring as she extended her unbeaten record and one for ‘special technique’ in the under-tens class, plus a bronze medal for her patterns discipline.

Brother Billy Barnett, aged seven, only lost out to the eventual champion in the under-tens category as he won a bronze medal.

Having recently turned 18, Gilbert Blocksidge competed in the adults second degree black belt patterns division, and produced a stellar performance to win a well-deserved silver medal.

“I am so proud of my students to compete at the highest level, and come away with so many medals,” said Master John Archer.

The club trains at Stratford Leisure Centre on Monday and Wednesday evenings.