Karate heroes get a kick out of medals

THERE were joyous scenes at Cork Airport yesterday when the Irish Karate team returned from the World Championships in South Africa with a total of 13 medals, one silver and 12 bronze.

Ireland’s management team were delighted with the achievement of the men’s team of five, who reached the semi-finals before losing narrowly to silver medallists, Italy, and the Irish ladies’ team, who won a bronze medal in the team Kata (movement) category.

Team manager Neil Sargent of the Midleton club said: “We did much better than we could have expected and our results reflected great credit on our team members. We had to win eight matches in the men’s team event to reach the semi-finals and our match against Italy was very tight. Most of the teams we compete against are led by professional coaches and instructors while our operation is entirely amateur.”