Carluke karate kid Emma Ruthven defeats reigning world champion

Carluke karate marvel Emma Ruthven defeated the reigning world champion in her age category at the European Under-21 Championship.
Emma Ruthven shows off some of her Kata moves during the competition in Budapest last weekendEmma Ruthven shows off some of her Kata moves during the competition in Budapest last weekend
Emma Ruthven shows off some of her Kata moves during the competition in Budapest last weekend

Sixth year Carluke High School pupil Emma (17) excelled in the early stages in Budapest last weekend by beating the Turkish ace and two other rivals before eventually finishing seventh, having been knocked out in the 16-17 years Kata semi-finals.

“I was in complete shock after beating the world champion in the quarter-finals,” Emma told the Carluke and Lanark Gazette.

“It was the most amazing feeling in the world.

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“I had an hour-and-a-half break between that and the semi-finals and was in a state of total disbelief.”

The Kata discipline saw competitors take to the floor individually, producing a series of punches and kicks in the air which are then marked by judges.

Emma’s quarter-final score of 23.88 was almost three points better than her world champion rival.

Moving on to the semi-final, Emma explained her frustration at not being able to make it through to the medal matches, as she failed to finish within the top four of the eight girls competing.

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“Unfortunately, I didn’t progress in that round, which was disappointing,” she added. “But I still had to take the positives from who I beat in the round before.”

Another imminent competition for Emma is the senior European Championships event in Azerbaijan on her 18th birthday next month.

“For the seniors just now, as I’m still so young, it’s all performance based.

“So, basically, I want to put out the absolute best performance that I can in order to then bring back the positive experiences from that to push me forward in the under-21s.

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“It is going well for me but next year will be a big change.

“I will move up into the under-21 category, which is 18 to 20-year-olds.

“Everyone in that category is already fully senior.”

Despite the increase in competition, which will come from older opposition, Emma is optimistic she can excel at this higher level.