A teenager from Bedlington has enjoyed success on the world stage, bringing home the silver medal for kickboxing from the World Martial Arts Organisation (WMO) World Championships, held in Rugby, Warwickshire.

Kyle Mcmorn, 14, who lives with his family in Bedlington Village, qualified for the competition back in February as part of a team from Emulous Martial Arts and Fitness Centre is West Sleekburn and has spent much of the year training for the competition.

The Emulous martial arts club was set up in 2008 with the aim of helping students go further in competitive fighting.

Under the guidance of chief instructor and former world champion, Kenn Forrest, the team from England took on representatives from South Africa, Canada, Ireland, America and beyond in a series of martial arts disciplines.

The WMO World Championships are an international competition that sees both adults and children compete in a number of disciplines across three days. Previous events

Over three days, Mcmorn took on four other English fighters and one from Ireland, booking his place in the final within 50 seconds of the semi-final due to his opponent sustaining a broken nose.

After a tough final match, Mcmorn was delighted to be returning home with a medal: “Fighting for my country was a great honour. To be able to stand on the podium with a silver medal around my neck in a world championship was frankly the best feeling of my life.”

It is the second success of the year for Mcmorn who is also part of the Cramlington Rockets rugby league team that won the North East League back in July.

“We are extremely proud of Kyle” said Rockets Coach, Jeff Ball. “He is an outstanding young man with a great attitude and determined work ethic and it is of no surprise to me that he has been successful at the highest level, something I am confident he will repeat in years to come.”