Local fighters win places at World Championships

Two veteran kick-boxers from Peterborough have recently been crowned British champions.
Pictured is the TASK team at the British Championships. From the left are, back, Grant Brown, Rob Taylor, Saulius Serzantux , front, Braydon Popat-Evans and Taylor Popat-Evans.Pictured is the TASK team at the British Championships. From the left are, back, Grant Brown, Rob Taylor, Saulius Serzantux , front, Braydon Popat-Evans and Taylor Popat-Evans.
Pictured is the TASK team at the British Championships. From the left are, back, Grant Brown, Rob Taylor, Saulius Serzantux , front, Braydon Popat-Evans and Taylor Popat-Evans.

Rob Taylor, winner of the Sportsman of the Year accolade in the 2017 Peterborough Telegraph Sports Awards, and Saulius Serzantux were both gold medallists at the World Martial Arts Orgainsation (WMO) British Championships in Rugby.

Taylor, who won two titles at the World Championships in Greece last year, won the veterans middleweight points fighting class and Serzantux the veterans lightweight continuous category.

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Taylor runs the TASK (Taylor’s Academy of Sport Karate) club and apart from Serzantux he had three other fighters in action at the championships.

The Master Parker Serial Kickers team at the British Championships.The Master Parker Serial Kickers team at the British Championships.
The Master Parker Serial Kickers team at the British Championships.

Black belt Grant Brown gained a silver medal in the men’s middleweight points division, narrowly missing out on first place, and Braydon Popat-Evans came home with a silver and a bronze medal after entering both the boys under 45kg points and continuous categories.

All the medallists won places in the WMO British squad to compete in the World Championships in Portugal later in the year.

The fifth TASK fighter, Taylor Popat-Evans, just missed out on a podium finish.

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The Popat-Evans brothers were using the tournament as a warm-up for the ISKA World Championships to be held in Montego Bay, Jamaica, in September this year.

The Master Parker Serial Kickers team at the British Championships.The Master Parker Serial Kickers team at the British Championships.
The Master Parker Serial Kickers team at the British Championships.

They will be joined there by older sister Jazmyn, Brown and Taylor, who is a British team coach.

The team have a ‘Go Fund Me’ appeal to help with their airfare which can be found at www.gofundme.com/get-team-task-to-the-iska-worlds

The TASK club can be found at Unit B, The Courtyard Business Centre, Norfolk Street, Peterborough, and also from March 19 at the Sawtry Infants School, Middlefield Road, Sawtry.

MASTER PARKER SERIAL KICKERS

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The Master Parker Serial Kickers (MPSK) club also had several students competing at the event in Rugby and star of the show was Shannon Parker.

She won two gold medals and a silver.

Several other club members won medals to secure places in the World Championships in Portugal.

The MPSK results were:

Shannon Parker- 1st forms, 1st weapons, 2nd teams.

Toby Maywood- 1st weapons, 2nd forms.

John Semeraro- 1st forms.

Hollie White- 3rd teams, 3rd weapons.

Sean Dixon- 3rd teams, 2nd forms.

Ashley Sutherland- 3rd forms.

Aaron Granger- 3rd teams.

Runners up - Katie Simnett, James Davey, Lewis Dangerfield, Oren Semeraro, Kaan Diker, Corey Bosworth.

The MPSK club offer free taster sessions. Anyone interested can contact the club on facebook or visit them at Unit 8, Alpha Park, Mallard Road, Bretton.