Golds and silvers for Island martial artists

The Isle of Man Karate and Kickboxing Team enjoyed a highly successful weekend at the 2009 UK Martial Arts Festival.

The four competitors, instructor Neil Pearson (pictured), Dave Pearson, Lisa McAuley-Quayle and Rob Keelan came home with three golds and two silvers.

Keelan got the ball rolling, beating the Swedish champion in the kickboxing and putting him down twice on his way to the gold on Saturday Fight Night

McAuley-Quayle came close to mirroring his efforts, going the distance with the Swedish women's champion before losing out on points in the last 20 seconds and ending up with silver.

World champions Neil and Dave Pearson both took golds in their events in the karate sections of Sunday's full tournament festival day and grabbed first and second podium finishes.

Neil Pearson says the team are delighted with their successes and are training hard and looking ahead to the 2009 World Championships in Italy on November fourth.