FOUR young kick-boxers have qualified for a world championship.

Kyle Chester, Rhys Pipes and Ryan Quinn, all 11, and 12-year-old Ryan Lister will all compete at the World Kickboxing and Karate Association’s Unified World Championships in Benidorm, Spain in early November.

They all qualified by winning medals at a regional contest held in South Tyneside recently.

Each has raised the hundreds of pounds needed to travel to and from Benidorm and compete and is looking forward to the action.

Kyle’s father Ian Chester said: “We’re very proud of him.

“Since he started a year and four months ago, he seems a lot more focused at school, so it’s helped him a lot outside of kickboxing as well.

“It’s a great thing to get the kids into.”

The boys train at Machine MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) and Fitness Centre, in Stanley, County Durham and are coached by Kennedy Freeman, the daughter of Ian “The Machine” Freeman, a well known figure on the MMA scene.