Carluke karate kid Emma Ruthven is potential Olympic Games star of the future

A potential Olympic Games star of the future outlined her quality by landing a junior kata silver medal at a prestigious karate event in Austria, writes Craig Goldthorp.
By Craig Goldthorp
Published 29th Jan 2019, 15:22 BST
Updated 29th Jan 2019, 16:27 BST
Emma Ruthvens next big event will come in Denmark next month (Submitted pic)Emma Ruthvens next big event will come in Denmark next month (Submitted pic)
Emma Ruthvens next big event will come in Denmark next month (Submitted pic)

Emma Ruthven (16) stormed through four under-18 rounds – culminating in an emphatic 4-1 semi-final success over a German ranked 10th in the world – before losing the final to Italian Sara Soldano at the Austrian Champions Cup in the superbly named town of Hard.The Carluke High School pupil’s proud dad Andrew told the Carluke and Lanark Gazette: “Emma was competing against top class opposition.“She has only just moved up to the junior class having been a cadet and is now 27th in the junior under-18 rankings.“So it was a massive achievement for her to get to the final.“The girl who beat Emma is ranked three in the world.”Emma is now gearing up for the European Junior Championships in Denmark from February 8 to 10.She became the first Scots female in history to win a European kata medal when she took silver in the cadet class last year and will be seeking to emulate this in the junior grade.“We are quietly confident Emma will do well,” Andrew added.“She is totally dedicated to karate, an inspiration who is getting stronger.”Emma is currentlyranked 30th female in karate’s international Olymic rankings.The top 10 on this list will qualify for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, karate’s Olympic debut.