RYAN Marsden could see in his coach’s eyes that he was on his way to becoming a martial arts champion.

The Shuttleworth College student won a gold medal at the International Combat Organisation (ICO) World Championships in the junior (13-17 years) under 40 kg category. “My fight was against a French boy, the same age as me,” said 13-year-old Ryan who is a member of Burnley Combat Sombo Club.

“I could tell by the expression on my coach’s face that I was winning.”