12:14pm Saturday 12th December 2009
By Steve Carroll
KARATE king Liam O’Grady is celebrating yet another international gold medal.
The York Karate Club stalwart is part of the most successful England team ever after they dominated the ESKA Championships in Austria.
After progressing to the third round in the individual kumite event O’Grady had to be at his best as England won their fifth international title in a row the hard way. It was a close first round match against the Czech Republic, the side England beat in the World finals only two months earlier, but the Lions scraped through.
O’Grady’s side then saw off Russia and Portugal before meeting Germany in the final looking for revenge after a 2007 defeat.
They had reached the final with ease and looked unstoppable but England showed their dominance and took the European title for the third year in a row.
The senior men’s team consisted of John Bruce, Michael Davison, O’Grady, Dean Field, Antony Duffy, Ryan Tucker, Chris Cray and Jon Mcgorian.
O’Grady, who was also a part of the 2007 and 2008 European successes, said: “What made this year’s win even more impressive were the two juniors who stepped in as reserves due to injuries. Both Ryan Tucker and Jon McGorian performed extremely well to help England win another title.”
For more information on the club that O’Grady runs go to the www.yorkkarate.org website.
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