Kokusai Karate Club in Clydebank enjoyed national medal success at the Scottish International Open Karate competition at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow.

With 38 national associations representing nine countries, the Kokusai competition squad members competed against participants from all over the UK, Ireland and as far a field as Denmark and Italy.

Youngster Adam Richards, two-time Scottish Open champion and 2018 West Dunbartonshire Community Sports Awards junior personality nominee, was first up and stormed to another impressive gold medal, this time in the boys Kata 10-11 age group.

Next up, Aria Pascual, 18, achieved double gold with success in both the female senior competition and the female under-21 Kata.

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Aria’s recent success has led to her being selected to represent Scotland at the U21 World Championships in Santiago in Chile this October - the fourth time the youngster has been selected for the Scottish National Team.

Competitions like the U21 World Championships are vital for young athletes with Olympic aspirations like Aria with vital ranking points up for grabs.

Heather McLaren, meanwhile, picked up the club’s fourth gold of the weekend with a fine win in the senior female kumite +68kg category.

Other members of the Kokusai competition squad were also in action as they continued to gain invaluable experience competing at a national level.

Training every Tuesday and Friday at Clydebank Leisure Centre and accredited with the Scottish Karate Governing Body, Kokusai placed ninth overall in the medal table at the Emirates and are led by 7th Dan black belt and Scottish National Kata coach Billy Haggarty.

The club run junior training sessions from 6.30pm - 7.30pm with the senior training taking place from 7.30pm to 9pm.