FEARLESS fighter Oliver Richardson is hoping to add a British Championships crown to the tae kwon do world title he won last month, writes Toby Latham.

The 11-year-old, from Leavening, took golden glory at the Association of Great Britain Tae Kwon Do World Championships in Coventry, just six months after taking up the sport.

That success came in the boys’ lightweight yellow-stripe belt category, and he is gunning for a similar success in the same category at the British tournament, to be held in November.

Richardson, who is a black belt in kick boxing, took up this new martial art this year and currently trains twice a week at the East York Tae Kwon Do club in Stamford Bridge. He has a yellow-stripe belt as he begins to work his way up the rankings.

In the international competition in Coventry, the youngster successfully passed through the early rounds and the semi-finals without too much hassle, but faced a much tougher challenge in the final. However, he fought courageously and managed to overcome his opponent to win the title.

Richardson’ mother, Amanda, said: “I am overjoyed at his win and very proud of his achievement as he fought very well and very hard in a high-pressure situation.

“Overall there were approximately 1,900 people competing in all categories at the tournament and so for Oliver to be one of the winners is fantastic.”

Richardson was not the only member of the Stamford Bridge-based club to come away from Coventry with a medal as Maxwell Griffin won a silver medal in the boys’ lightweight tag team while Ashleigh Lightfoot, who is the reigning British champion in the “Pee Wee” division, picked up a bronze medal in the “Pee Wee” girls’ tag team to cap off a very successful weekend for the club.

Gavin Cook, the club’s trainer, said: “The whole team competed bravely against some very tough opponents but Oliver put in an exceptional performance to win gold.

“I believe that as long as Oliver continues to train as hard as he has been there is no reason why he can’t use this victory as a stepping stone and push on to become very successful in the sport.”