MARTYN Skipper came out of retirement to win an elusive World Championship karate medal.

The 53-year-old from Blacknape has already been crowned a veteran European champion. and while he did not strike gold this time, he returned from the WUKF World Karate Championships with a silver medal.

The Tower Shukokai head coach was one of three members of the Edgworth-based club to travel across to Dublin for the championships held at the City West Conference Centre.

Skipper, who is one of only a handful of instructors in the country to have achieved his Godan (5th Dan), missed out on individual glory but was part of a three-man GB team to win silver in the veterans’ category.

In the veteran individual category he fought his way down from 30 to the last eight, but missed out on a medal.

But he then joined up with two British Army members, Brian Hall and Ronnie Harley, in the veteran’s’ team event.

They battled their way through to the final where they narrowly lost to a Czech team.

At the other end of the age scale, 10-year-old Angus McIver was the youngster of the Tower trio to cross the Irish Sea to compete. He took part in two events, the junior kumite and the junior team kumite. Unfortunately, he was knocked out in the first round of both events.

But Skipper was full of praise for the youngster.

“Angus performed brilliantly after facing very tough opponents,” he said. “It should also be mentioned that this was his first World Championships.”

Angus underlined his talents the previous week when he won the Northern Open Classic and is a rising star in the England Junior Squad.

Philip Wan, 38, also made the trip to Dublin with the 38-year-old competing competed in three kata categories but also fell short of a medal.