KEITH Merrifield, of Bude, and Elias O'Neill, of Launceston, travelled to Salisbury to take part in The Southern Taekwon-Do Championships.

Elias is quite a regular competitor on the competition circuit, but was eliminated one fight before the finals. In spite of being beaten by the eventual gold medallist, he only lost by three points.

For Keith however, it was his first competition, and honoured himself by taking silver place, being beaten by only one point in the closing seconds of the round. Keith says. "I'm really delighted with this result from my first competition. It was a bit frustrating being in the lead through most of the fight, then losing by one point, but silver is a good result, it means I've got something more to aim for at my next event."

His Instructor, Guy Southard 4th Dan, who also runs the new club in Holsworthy, says, "I'm glad that Keith took part in this competition, it was a regional event, so not too overpowering for him, but hopefully it will inspire him, and other club members to take part in future events. We have the British Championships scheduled for November, and I've got several students at the Bude club, which has been running for only 15 months, who I think will do well, the British is the last event of the year and this year it's being held in Cardiff, at the UWIC Arena, which makes it very accessible for us in the South West"

For more information on this dynamic martial art, and for details of clubs in your area, please call Guy Southard on 07771863890.