AN ANDOVER teenager has been crowned a world champion at Taekwon-Do.

Brendon Tasker, from Watermills Close, competed in the WTA World Taekwon-Do Championships earlier this year, which were held in Roana, Italy.

The Peter Symonds student, who is currently studying for a BTEC National Diploma in Sport, beat previously unbeaten Declan Steele in the final of the Points Stop Sparring competition.

However Tasker did not have it all his own way, losing to the Australian earlier in the day in the continuous sparring final.

The 16-year-old, who was joined at the competition by over 600 competitors from across the world, was given a bye into both finals after his Russian opponents pulled out of the competition minutes before the bout.

Despite being six inches shorter and seven kilos lighter than his opponent, Tasker gave a good account of himself in the continuous sparring final but was ultimately beaten by Steele, earning himself a silver medal in the process.

Tasker avenged his defeat later however, fighting a tactical battle against the Australian in his preferred point stop sparring final.

The final consisted of two halves of two minutes, with Tasker taking a 2-0 lead going into the break.

The second half proved a nail-biting affair despite the fact that Tasker went 5-1 up with a minute to go.

However Steele fought back well and bought the score up to 5-4.

With just 16 seconds left on the clock Brendon prepared to land one final attack and scored with a punch to the head to make it 6-4, landing a defeat on his previously undefeated opponent.

The win means Tasker claimed the gold medal and the title of WTA World Champion.

Talking about the win, he said: “I’ve won World and European silver, to win World gold feels amazing.

“It was an ambition of mine to win World gold by the time I was 18.

“To win it at 16 is a great feeling.

“Here’s to the future and my dream of one day competing in the Olympics.”

Brendon is now back in training in preparation for a busy calender of events and competitions taking place next year.

The youngster, who trains with Andover TAGB at Winton School twice a week, is planning to take part in the World Championships again next year as well as the English and Welsh Championships in March and May.

He will also run for promotion to ‘third dan’ (rank) black belt in April or October in 2016.