THE tournament squad from Farnham School of Tae Kwon Do was back in action last weekend at its first tournament of the year, the GTI English Open Championships in Cheltenham.

The 12 competitors returned to Farnham with eight medals, comprising four gold, a silver and three bronze.

Farnham’s first medal of the day was won by 15-year-old Daniel Lee in his patterns division. Rachel Nawrattel also won a bronze medal in the her ladies patterns division.

Several other members of the squad also competed in patterns, with 12-year-old Harry Collins narrowly missing out on a medal in a play-off for bronze.

Harry was rewarded for his efforts later in the day, winning gold in his sparring division.

And his win inspired his Farnham teammates, with Ollie Verrian, 14, prevailing to win gold after three bruising encounters, and the courageous young Dylan Walker, not yet 12, winning another sparring gold to add a GTI English title to his national and British titles from last year.

There was more success for Farnham and the Walker family in the sparring, with Eden Walker putting in a battling performance to win bronze.

The talented Will Bryan kept up his prolific record, winning yet another tournament medal in sparring, this time a bronze, in a fiercely competitive division.

Farnham’s sole silver medal of the day came from Dimitri Perricos, still a newcomer to the adult sparring division, showing much fighting spirit against a heavier opponent.

There were also strong performances from Daniel Lee and Tyla Nawrattel in sparring. While in patterns, Daisy Johnson, Tyla Nawrattel, Eden Walker, Dylan Walker, Nicole Oxley and Melissa Oxley all performed with credit.

Coach Tim Ayres-Townshend praised not only the Farnham squad but all the competitors, saying: “Regardless of their individual results, we were reminded by all those competing today that it takes courage and spirit to even step onto the competition mats and, as such, the rewards can be measured in far more than medals.”

The squad is now training hard for the Puma International Open in Swindon this weekend.