WYRE Forest taekwondo members tested their skills at an English Championship event in Worcester.

Over 1,200 competitors squeezed into Worcester Arena last Sunday to battle it out in their respective belt and weight divisions, vying for the title of English Champion in a selection of events including sparring, patterns, power and destruction.

Supported by over 200 officials, the event saw 23 practitioners from the Wyre Forest area battle to test their skills among their taekwondo peers.

The total medal count was one gold, three silver and eight bronze from the local group of schools.

Chris Rayment-Bishop, Bewdley’s assistant instructor, took two silver medals from the tournament, the first in the Ultimate Striker event and the second for an outstanding Team Pattern performance.

Hagley’s assistant instructor Arti Shah also led the way by example for the group by earning a gold medal in her hand power event, a bronze in her foot power and bronze in the tough ladies black belt division.

Her daughter Anuschka was also successful on the day, winning second place in the foot power event.

Danka Chorowstowska took bronze in her first ever tournament, Laura North was also successful in her sparring performance to take a bronze. Both also scored highly with their pattern performances.

Mother and daughter duo Helen and Jessica Giles also received bronze trophies for their performances in sparring and patterns divisions respectively.

Richard Perks and daughter Amy Perks also took bronze in their sparring categories making the medal count for the Wyre Forest group into double figures for the day.

There were some outstanding performances from young first time competitors Om Pandit and Arun Nandra who both showed real promise for a good future in competition.

Instructor Katie Billingham said “It was such a proud day for the club, not just the results but how everyone came together as one big taekwondo family, including our neighbouring schools across the West Midlands who also had great success.

"The atmosphere was one of comradery and I was very impressed with all performances, on and off the mat on the day. I’d also like to recognise the black belts who gave up their day to help run the tournament, James Gutteridge and Tom and Charlie Smith who also made their club very proud.”

The club is now focused on the coloured belt grading this coming Sunday.