There was a golden hat-trick for Maldon Higashi Karate Club at the Higashi National Championships at Brunel University in London.

The Maldon club were represented by a squad of 20 karateka with nine competing in their first national event.

Maldon Juniors were first up and in the mixed yellow to orange belt kata, Adele Blanke won through to the finals and took a bronze medal to set the pace for the rest of the squad.

In the boys’ brown belt kata, twins Connor and Ryan Hutchings and Cian Willsher totally dominated the section, taking gold, bronze and silver respectively.

They then repeated this in the boys’ 160 to 175cm purple to black belt kumite, with Connor again taking the gold medal, Ryan silver this time and Willsher the bronze.

Jess Leach then took gold in the girls’ brown belt kata, before teaming up with the Hutchings twins to take the gold in the junior team kata.

Maldon’s second junior team of CWillsher, Liam Lynch and Max McDonald joined in with the bronze position. Jess then teamed up with her father Russ Leach to compete in the family pairs kata and took another gold medal.

Maldon again took all three places, with Connor and his father, Mark Hutchings, taking the silver and Cian and his father, Shaun Willsher, the bronze.

Then in the over-35 kata, Maldon again dominated the section and eliminated all the other competitors leaving them to battle it out between themselves for the medals.

Russ Leach came out on top with gold, Dave Collins took Silver and John Spurgeon bronze. Silver medals also went to Blanke in the girls’ open kumite and the Maldon senior kata team of Russ Leach, Spurgeon and Steve Gibbs.

Bronze medals were also claimed by Liam Lynch in the senior fourth to first kyu brown belt kata, Dave Collins in over-35 kumite, Jess Leach in the girls’ 145 to 160cm kumite, Dan Blanke in the men’s open kyu grade kumite, McDonald in the 145 to 160cm boys’ purple to black belt kumite, Lewis Sackman in 145 to 160cm boys’ yellow to green belt kumite and Evan Harvey in the 130 to 145cm yellow to green belt kumite.