KEIGHLEY'S teenage international taekwondo star Leah Moorby made a winning start to 2016 at the Horizon One to One tournament at the Richard Dunn Sports Centre in Bradford.

The Oakbank student is in training for the Dutch Open Championships next month and her coach Kathy Hook was keen for Leah to get some match time under her belt in preparation. The event in Eindhoven is a selection criteria event for November's Junior World Championships in Vancouver.

The British champion faced Welsh international Ruth May, from Llantwit Major Taekwondo Club, and was in impressive form.

She took command with a trademark headshot before two body shots and a further headshot put her 8-1 up at the end of the opening round.

The second round saw no let-up as May could not match Moorby's strength and speed. The GB ace added further head shots, including a great reverse turning kick, to build up a 17-5 lead after the second round to end the contest on the 12-point gap ruling and take the gold medal.

Moorby and her father Gary travelled down to Loughborough University afterwards to take part in a Jaguar Land Rover Academy of Sport event.

The youngster has been selected for the elite programme, which includes various workshops on subjects such as nutrition, sports psychology and performance lifestyle management.

Academy mentors on the day included four-time Olympic cyclist Bryan Steel, former Saracens, Bath and England RU prop David Flatman, who is now an ITV pundit, and Team GB Olympic sprinter Adam Gemili.

Gary, who was former head coach at Keighley Cougars, said: "These days are superb for young up and coming athletes such as Leah.

"To be surrounded by quality people who have been there and done it at the highest level and who offer their advice, support and knowledge is brilliant. "The other youngsters present come from many different sporting backgrounds such as tennis, sailing, horse riding and cycling which allows each other to have an insight of what it's like for other youngsters who are competing at a high level and the challenges they are faced with.

"Competing at international level requires a lot of dedication, self discipline and hard work. Leah is taking her GCSE exams this year. so fitting everything in requires a lot of planning and structure."