Two local boys have won gold and silver at the European Championships of the Wado International Karate-Do Federation (WIKF) in Rotterdam.
Rafferty Knight, from Ticehurst, won gold while his team-mate Dominic Savage, of Tunbridge Wells, took silver in the Under-9 category.
Rafferty, who attends Sacred Heart School in Wadhurst, took up the martial art with CMA Karate in Tunbridge Wells and is one step away from achieving his black belt.
Earlier this year, both boys won silver at the WIKF English and Irish National Championships, and were asked to attend trials for the England squad.
In the build-up to the Europeans they spent most weekends traveling to Alton, Basingstoke or Eltham to train with the squad.
Both are now hoping to compete at the World Championships on the island of Curaçao in the Caribbean. But their ambitions don’t stop there. “Raff wants to represent England in the Olympics,” said his mother, Laura.
“He wants an Olympic gold!”
Karate will make its debut at the Tokyo Games in 2020 – though the boys may have to wait a little longer than that.
