STOURPORT UK Kickboxing Club secured a haul of medals when members travelled to Solihull Birmingham to fight in the British ICO Open Kickboxing Championships.

The event was the World ICO Qualifiers which this year are held in Scotland.

Most of the students had competed before in kickboxing competitions, but on this occasion, there were two new members in the team.

First up to fight was Stacey Smith, 12, in fight that was light continuous kickboxing on the mat. This was a hard fought fight for Stacey who was fighting a girl three years older than her but both under 45kg.

Unfortunately she lost on a split decision in the final to gain silver before losing to the same opponent in martial arts boxing.

Next, Alex Whall, 15, fought in martial arts boxing in the under 70kgs. He had an excellent start and safely secured the first round, but in the second round he was knocked down twice and had to settle for silver.

However, he also fought in light continuous mat, where he beat some strong competition and became the British champion in his category.

Next to fight was Shannon Smith who is 17 years old and under 65kgs. She has been disappointed of late as she was sporting a knee injury so she decided only to fight in the martial arts boxing light.

Shannon had a great fight but was narrowly pipped at the post by a decision, and went on to gain a well-earned silver.

Nathan Hawkins, 18, pulled off the shock of the day by beating the favourite Ryan Ellis. He has been training extremely hard for this competition dominated the fight to become Stourport's second British Champion.

Nathan also fought in the ring continuous, which was his first ever ring fight. This was an explosive bout that Nathan put in his all but lost on a split decision to the favourite James Houston. Nathan is a seasoned kick boxer and again this title adds to his already raft of national and international titles.

Next to fight were the two new members of the team who had never fought in a kickboxing competition. Ben Gowland who is 13 years old and under 75kgs was pitched against a more experience fighter, but gave a great account for himself and earned a silver medal.

His brother Greg Gowland, 14 years old and under 65kgs, also fought more experienced fighters and had a great first round, but like brother Ben was beaten on the decision and gained a silver medal.

Last up was Callum Bingham, 14, in the under 55kgs. Callum was fighting in large categories and against the top teams in the country. He fought valiantly in the ring continuous event but narrowly lost on a split decision missing out on third place.

The whole team are now back in training at Wilden Lane under Sixth Dan Brain Smith. They are working hard for the ICO World Championships in Scotland in October.