Carla Rudkin-Guillen wins British International Open crown ahead of Junior World Karate Championships challenge

CARLA Rudkin-Guillen has won the British International Open in Sheffield, boosting hopes she is on track for a medal at the junior world championships.

The Brockenhurst College student, who grew up in New Milton, hopes to bring a Junior World Karate Championships medal back from Lido de Jesolo, Venice, and she showed she is on the right track.

Rudkin-Guillen (17) topped the female junior kata competition, taking gold ahead of silver winner Ruby Rees and bronze medallists Emma Russell and Mea Cartwright.

The three-time English kata champion, whose final competition before the worlds will be the English International Open, spent most of her summer inside a gym in Spain as part of her world championship preparations.

Rudkin-Guillen is trained by her father, Collin Rudkin, at the Southern England Karate Federation (SEKF), based in New Milton and Lymington.

He said: “The competition was used to see how well her training program was going so that I could monitor her progress.

“After being selected to represent England for the world championships, there was quite a bit of pressure for Carla to perform at this event, but she handled it really well by winning and becoming the British International Open champion for the second consecutive year.”

Little Lives UK, AVA Sports Ltd (Arawaza), and the Lions Club of New Milton sponsor the martial artist.