Anne-Marie Nicholson fought her way to a gold medal at the United Kingdom Karate championships.

The 11-year-old from East Tilbury started competing for the Tokon Kai Karate club after just six months of training.

And during the last year she has gone on to win 13 gold medals for individual and team kata events.

At the UK championships, Anne-Marie outclassed the rest of her competitors by a huge margin and won another gold award in her kata event.

In the same competition she entered an open category and achieved an amazing fourth place after missing out on the final by 0.1 of a point.

This in itself was a fantastic achievement as she was competing against black belts who have been training for at least three more years than her.

Now the youngster is hoping to take her talents across the globe and take part in Las Vegas' World Championships.

The Tokon Kai Karate club meets in Basildon, Billericay, Corringham, Chelmsford and South Woodham Ferrers. For more information call Steve on 01245 323309 or 07947 366319.

Published Monday, April 29, 2002