Chelmsford Shotokan Karate star Teah Pope fought for England at the European Shotokan Karate-Do Association Championships, helping them to win silver in the Cadet Female Team category.
The 17-year-old has been training very hard all year with the Karate Union of Great Britain’s (KUGB) England Squad and has been outstanding in the build-up to earn her selection for this tournament.
Along with karateka representing more than 20 European countries, she travelled to Crawley last week to meet up with her England team coaches Sensei Andy Sherry (ninth Dan) and Sensei Frank Brennan (eighth Dan) and her team-mates to complete the final preparations.
The competition included a number of current world champions and ran over two days and lived up to expectations with top-class competitors producing karate performances of the highest standard.
Teah was in action on the second day representing England team for kumite (sparring).
Together with Emily Hughes (Liverpool) and Maya Burns (Sunderland) they reached the semi-finals, where they took on Poland, it all came down to the last fight as to who would go through.
Teah, after initially going a point down, had to dig deep to show the speed and skill necessary to beat her opponent, sending the home crowd wild with joy.
In the final against Switzerland, unfortunately her team-mate Emily had to withdraw due to injury, so with Teah being fighter number three and with the match already lost it was down to her to save some pride for England.
Again she came up trumps, showing the skill and determination to outpunch her opponent. Her attitude and fighting spirit was warmly appreciated by both her England team-mates and the crowd.
Chelmsford instructors Richard and Jane Naylor-Jones were there, alongside a large number of supporters from the city to cheer Teah on.
Jane said: “I am very proud of Teah, who is a graduate of our young Shotokan Tigers Class. Her commitment to her training shone through at these championships.
“Her performance was outstanding and helped KUGB England overall to top the medal table to win the championship.”
Chelmsford Shotokan Karate Club has been established since 1967 and members train at Anglia Ruskin University, Dovedale Sports Centre and Oaklands Infant School.
For more information about the club please phone Jane on 07973 672663 or visit their website at chelmsford-karate.co.uk
Courtesy of: Essex Chronicle