Westwood Karate Club returned with four first places, a second and two thirds when they sent a team to Ferrara in Italy to take on worldwide opposition in an under-15 kata event sponsored by the Disney Corporation.

Opponents came from Israel, Cyprus, Slovenia, Germany, Russia, Switzerland, Greece, Poland and Romania.

The Westwood team consisted of youngsters in ages ranging from nine to 14. In the nine to ten years event, Matthew Thompson won gold in the brown belt section and William Stevens won gold gold in the black belt section.

In the 11-12 years event Hayley Stevens won a bronze at black belt level, while, at age group 13-14, Craig Suckling took silver in the brown belt section. He narrowly lost to Marietta Ioannou, of Cyprus.

In the black belt event, Westwood's Scott Dunlop retained his title, winning the event for a second year in succession by beating two Israeli rivals into second and third spot. In the team event, Dunlop teamed up with Tony Souster and Marco Selci to win gold for England for the second year running.

Suckling joined the team of Vicky Stevens and Katie Thompson to place third in the same event. The Cyprus squad split the two Westwood line-ups.

Anyone interested in becoming a potential international competitor of the future can find out about Westwood's beginner classes in Thundersley, Rayleigh, Canvey, Wickford, Southend and Hockley by phoning Carol on 01702 559804.

Italian job - for the all-conquering youngsters of Westwood Karate Club

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.