Sisters from Inverness have been crowned among the best in Europe after achieving major success at an international competition.

Laura Stewart and Lily Fraser both made a major impact when they competed at the European Tang Soo Do Championships in Poland.

Lily (15) was crowned overall European Grand Champion when the First Dan Black Belt won in a number of her categories at the competition which took place in Brodnica.

Laura (23) who is a Third Dan Black Belt also won in two of her categories as well as finishing on the podium in a further five of her categories.

The Inverness sisters made up the six strong Scotland team who travelled over to Poland to compete in the European Championships.

Tang Soo Do is a Korean martial art which combines elements of Okinawan karate, Chinese kung fu and traditional Korean kicking techniques.

Competitors gathered from Scotland, England, the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Greece and Poland to compete against each other.

The individual grand champion categories for forms and weapons forms gather all the winners from the various Black Belt divisions to battle it out to see who really is the best of the best.

Lily, who is a pupil at Inverness High School, held her nerve against some very experienced and skilled Tang Soo Do winners to achieve these two titles.

The Overall Grand Champion is a prestigious award presented to the competitor winning the most medals across all the Tang Soo Do categories at the Championships.

The last time this Championships were held in Poland 18 years ago, Lily’s instructor, Master Kelly Murphy was also crowned overall European Grand Master champion

Speaking about her pride in Lily and Laura competing at the highest level, Murphy says they are terrific examples to all athletes in the sport.

She said: “Seeing my own student following in my footsteps was a humbling and proud moment demonstrating the evolution of Inverness Tang Soo Do.

“We will celebrate our 30th Anniversary of when I started the club in Hilton Community Centre next year, and it’s amazing to be able to train local martial arts competitors up to this standard.”

Both sisters are no stranger to success as they have won competitions at regional, national and international level.

At the Highland Tang Soo Do Championship in Alness last month, Laura and Lily were crowned over senior and junior back belt champions.

Laura was also crowned British Grand Champion at the EMTF British Championships in Dagenham in August.

She claimed four gold medals, along with one silver and one bronze to take the overall title.

She is currently at third dan level and is looking to become a Master at Tang Soo Do in November.