DETERMINED Cobbydaler Kathryn Utley won her debut bout as Horizon Taekwondo Academy put their latest crop of talent on show at the Doncaster One-On-One Sparring Competition at Doncaster Dome.

Of the 11 Horizon members competing, Keighley's Muhammed Ejaz, Cara Harbourne and Aliya Taj also won, as did Bradford debutant Rayhaan Khan, while Silsden's Sarah Lancaster was another first-timer.

Coach Rick Simpson paid tribute to the first-timers, saying: “Those three have wanted to compete for a long time and set this date as their target.

"Adults Sarah and Kathryn train in our women-only KickSister classes in Silsden.

"Rayhaan, from one of our after school-clubs in Manningham, is proving to the other kids in his school that if he can be competitive in taekwondo then so can they; and KickSisters Sarah and Kathryn are doing the same for their peers in the women's’ class."

Of particular interest was 17-year-old Aliya, who won her contest by knockout in the second round.

Aliya, who trains with Horizon at Keighley Leisure Centre and Madina Community Centre in Keighley, trains four times a week at the moment and is preparing for her black-belt test in 2016.

Also competing for Horizon were, among others, Ehsan and Saliha Ejaz (Keighley, child), Hannah Priestley (Cullingworth, child) and Sam Taylor (Silsden, child).

The matches followed Olympic taekwondo rules, with points scored by punches to the body, and kicks to the body and head in continuous technical exchanges.

Each competitor wore full protective equipment too, as the contests are full-contact.

Rising talent Cara won her match 18-2 in style, using checking attacks to score multiple kicks to her opponent’s head-guard in each attacking sequence, while five-year-old Sam Taylor lost out only by two points.

Meanwhile, at a grass-roots sparring competition at Barnsley Metrodome, nine of Horizon's 19 members triumphed, again in evenly-matched contests.

First-timers Ronnie Moran and Rhys Johnson-Chatburn, both from Silsden, were among their novice highlights, with Ronnie losing and Rhys winning, although both took sizeable trophies.

Victors included Cara Harbourne, Muhammad Ejaz and Courtney Smith, all from Keighley, while five-year-old Alex Tukhin and three-year-old Alfie Maroney, both from Silsden, and Steven Smith and Aliya and Saliha Ejaz, from Keighley, also competed.