A TEENAGER fought some of the world's best, winning a gold and bronze medal double, at a prestigious event.

Katelyn Entwistle, 19, achieved the medal double at the Commonwealth Karate Championships in Durban, South Africa. She won gold in the Under-21 kata and the bronze in the senior category. There are two disciplines in karate; kumite (fighting) and Kata which involves displaying a set of complex karate moves in a predefined pattern.

A total of 15 countries took part in the event, which included a youth cup, an elective congress and the championship.

This was the first time Entwistle, of Baildon, had participated in the event, now in its ninth year, and she was pleased to end 2018 on a high.

She said: “The championships were wonderful to be a part of. There were so many athletes and coaches from across the Commonwealth celebrating the love for our sport together.

"The organisers did an amazing job, putting athletes at the heart of proceedings.

"The whole experience has been fantastic, and I am so happy to end the year on such a high.”

Early in the season Entwistle suffered a quad sprain during a training session, which came as a setback and took her months to return to full fitness.

She added: “As soon as I was given the all clear to return to play, I was straight back into battle through the tournament season as best as I could.”

Entwistle recruited a new coach, Nguyễn Hoàng Ngân of Hanoi, Vietnam, in August. She said: “My new kata coach is amazing. Her input and knowledge, combined with intense training, has come together to produce this result at the Commonwealth Championships."

At present, karate athletes compete to gather ranking points by attending tournaments throughout the world. These premier leagues are only open to the top 100 ranked athletes and are organised by the World Karate Federation (WKF). Entwistle has been competing at these top-level events from a young age since 2015.

Adrian Lowes, Entwistle’s manager, said: “At only 19 years old, she is demonstrating future Olympic medal potential. This should be embraced and supported.”

"Ensuring Katelyn has adequate funding to attend world ranking events and maintaining an appropriate frequency of training session in Vietnam is costly. There are also expenses relating to medical and equipment costs.

The next Karate Commonwealth Karate Championships, held every two years, will be in England in 2020.

Craig Vokey, general secretary of the Commonwealth Karate Federation (CKF), said: “As always, the Commonwealth Karate Federation Championships represents a friendly competition that is approachable for recreational and high-performance players alike and Karate South Africa did a great job of organizing the event.”