HORIZON Taekwondo Academy member Thomas Henley has been chosen to represent Great Britain at the European Under-21 Championships in Romania on November 19-22.

The 18-year-old Commonwealth and British national champion, who has been coached in Bradford and Keighley for the past three years, will compete in the -80kg category in Bucharest.

Since joining Horizon, Thomas has become a two-time national champion, a Commonwealth champion and finished second and third in the Dutch Open and Croatian Open respectively.

He has also passed his black belt and become a coach for the club, with a Level Two coaching qualification on the way.

Thomas, who is coached by Rick Simpson and 21-year-old Bradfordian Kieran Young, needs to raise about £1,000 for the trip, and the club are holding a number of fund-raising activities.

Anyone interested in helping should contact info@horizontaekwondo.co.uk.

Meanwhile, Horizon members showed no fear as they claimed top spot on the medal table at the Yorkshire Open Championships.

Teams from over Europe travelled to the tournament at the Richard Dunn Sports Centre in Odsal.

Horizon earned 101 points for their first place, taking seven gold, 12 silver and 16 bronze medals shared across students from all ten of the academy's clubs.

On their success, coach Simpson said: “The team simply did superbly. There were a lot of first timers in the team but they didn’t show any fear – they got on with it and did their best.”

The Academy's own GB development athletes Henley, Ellie Bowden and Lauren Watson won gold, with Jamie Kidd also getting a silver.

Meanwhile, Jodie McKew and Rehan Iqbal added to the gold medal total for Horizon over the day’s proceedings.

Jamie Lee Gray and Cara Harbourne landed their first gold medals at the competition.

Taking part in their first matches in front of the 700-strong crowd were three-year-olds Alfie Maroney and Jayden Simpson-Kidd from Aire View Infant school.

More opportunities for Horizon’s students to learn their craft are coming soon at events in Doncaster, Barnsley, Liverpool and Nottingham.

Medallists: Gold – Jodie McKew, Cara Harbourne, Jamie Lee Gray, Lauren Watson, Rehan Iqbal, Ellie Bowden, Thomas Henley. Silver: Ellie Waite, Skye Horry, Sam Taylor, Dylan Moore, Adam Cassere, Mikayil Mikayilov, Emily Owen, Enya Robinson, Jamie Kidd, Matthew Brindle, Faisal Razaq, Scott Wilson, Bronze: Paige Harris, Cassey-Jo Grange, Jessie McKew, Aleena Mansoor, Saliha Ejaz, Rhys Johnson-Chatburn, Muhammed Ejaz, Steven Smith, Eesa Amon, Bartosch Kosuch, Courtney Smith, Kisler Flores, Ehsan Ejaz, Gary Watt, Huseyn Mikayilov, Trish Relayson.

*Anyone interested in joining the Horizon Taekwondo Academy or trying a free session can call Rick Simpson on 07977 065357 or visit www.horizontaekwondo.co.uk.