A 10-year-old black belt from Winterley has won gold in her age range in the WUKF Karate World Championships in Cluj-Napoca Romania.

Competing against athletes from all over the world from Peru to Mexico and South Africa, Grace Leigh emerged triumphantly winning gold in her age division for kata (a pattern of techniques).

Grace, a member of Cheshire Martial Arts Club trains in Warrington with 9^th Dan Hanshi Paul Graham and competes nationally and internationally with the SSKA (Shukokai-ShitoRyu Karate Alliance)

The youngster, a pupil at The Dingle Primary School in Haslington, now has her sights set on the WUKF European Championships which held in Sheffield in October.

Her brother Joshua (8) will also be competing, sharing the same love of karate as his sister.

Her mum Amanda said: "We are so proud of Grace. It was amazing to see everything come together for her after years of hard work and commitment to training.

"We are eternally grateful to Hanshi Paul for his training and support and to the SSKA for giving her the opportunity to represent her country competing in a sport that she loves"

SSKA Head Coach Hanshi Paul Graham said: "Grace has put in 100 per cent in the run up to this competition, showing great dedication for somebody of her age.

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"She totally deserves this accolade and I look forward to seeing what she achieves in the future"

When Grace isn't working hard in the dojo she is a keen musician playing both saxophone and piano.

In the future, she hopes to see Karate return to the Olympics so she can represent her country at one of the greatest sporting events there is.

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