Ilkley Karate Club members have made a successful start to their sporting year.

Renowned champion Jade Miller ended 2009 with golds in both the kata and kumite disciplines, and began 2010 with the club’s first trophy haul, including a bronze medal for kata in the UK Open Karate Championships.

The following week ten students, young and old, represented Ilkley Karate Club at the Tenth SKU National Kata Championships at Birchwood Leisure Centre, Warrington .

Orange belt Abi Thackray, ten, made a promising debut at the her first national kata championships by gaining a bronze medal, narrowly losing in the final rounds to a higher-ranked competitor.

Peter Davison, eight, was outstanding in boys’ senior grade kata, also taking a bronze. Peter had only just moved up from a junior to senior rank a few weeks prior to the competition.

Elly Field, 11, shone in the girls’ black-belt category, taking a well-des-erved third-place, despite competing against girls much older than herself.

In the adult events, sisters Wendy Syril and Nikki Thackray took silver and bronze medals in the women’s junior grade category, narrowly losing out to the eventual winner who had more experience than the Ilkley duo.

In the adult black-belt events, Miller won bronze medals in the women’s individual and open kata (set moves).

Ilkley then finished on a high in a new event. Senior grades Mark Outter-side and Miller won gold in the team pairs kata event.

The set moves had to be precise in every way and synchronised to the last punch. Even more remarkable was the fact the duo had only practised together a week before the event.

Chief instructor Outterside singled out the performances of rising stars Field (11), Bridget Taylor and newcomers Thackray and Piers Walton, who are also ten, as all four were entered in very competitive events.

On the horizon is an inter-club tournament at Guiseley.