COWDENBEATH Karate Club star Elize Bauld claimed another British Championship victory as well as gold on the world stage as the youngster continues to shine.

The young fighter first competed at the World Youth League event in Dubai where the world's elite youths compete for top level championships.

Elize fought Palestine in the opening round with a 8-0 success, which was followed up by a fantastic late win over a German opponent ranked in the world's top ten.

She continued to impress and dispatched of her Italian opposition 4-1 in the next round, leading to a semi-final win over Romania by decision.

Another German fighter awaited in the final and what was described as "the tightest of fights" went the way of Elize with the judges awarding her a 3-2 result to secure the title in the 61kg Cadet Kata Female category.

She would then compete in the British Karate Federation Four Nations championships at Ravenscraig and returned home with another British title crown.

Her excellent kicking saw her advance into round two, and would continue to dominate ahead of a final clash with an English opponent.

After falling behind early in the fight, she showed great determination to snatch in the final in the dying seconds to record her fourth British title.

Prior to the events in Dubai and Ravenscraig, the club competed at Penrith in their Youth Championships with several young members travelling down for the event.

First up was young RJ Atken who won gold in the Kata event, followed by Claye Webster winning silver in his fighting event with his brother Cole winning bronze; and Reilly Ward also won bronze in his event.

At the same time the club had some fighters in Poland fighting in an Open Championship.

With more than 1,100 entries from across Europe, it was always going to be a challenging event with Elize winning two bronze medals in her events, and club instructor Ben Smith winning bronze in the male black belt event.

The British Karate Federation Four Nations championships at Ravenscraig was enjoyed by Elize and other members of the club over the two days.

On day one RJ Atken won bronze in his Kata event, and young Anna Smith won gold in her fighting event which was a reward for her effort and ability that she displays every week; becoming the club’s eleventh British champion over the years.

Then, club instructor Tiff O’Reilly won gold in the senior Kata event rolling back the years with a series of excellent Kata performances to claim the 2023 title with day one ending on a very high note for the club.

Day two saw the main senior fighting events kicking off with the best of Britain’s talent on show.

First up was Emma Duncan and club instructor Ben Smith won both won bronze medals in very tough sections.

Elize then secured her British Championship win, and then Cowdenbeath's Antoine Pinardin ,who had just won the British University title in Nottingham, started away in explosive fashion winning the early rounds by large margins throwing some excellent kicks and punches in every bout.

A hard semi-final was won by Antoine again with well-timed and precise techniques before a superb performance in the final to win the 2023 title and become Cowdenbeath's twelfth British champion.

That concluded a great British Championships for the small independent club of Cowdenbeath and a busy period for the club.

The club also had a local grading where instructor Ben Smith was awarded his 3rd Dan from Olympic coach Paul Newby after moths of hard training. Robert Gay was also awarded the best student cup.

Next up for the club is a training camp at their Cowdenbeath Gym with the Scottish and Moroccan national coaches teaching and top fighters from the UK and France in attendance.

This promises to be one of the best training camps in the UK and a great opportunity for the local members to develop their skills.

  • Report by Cowdenbeath Karate Club.