The international tournament attracted competitors from Canada, Italy, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Honduras, El Salvador, Mexico, Great Britain, Mongolia and the USA.

Vana Smith took home a gold in patterns and a silver in sparring, beating a bigger, older, and higher-graded opponent, according to her coach Ben Evans, who is also the president of the NZ International Taekwon-do Federation.

"She has worked really hard at home. She has good discipline and I think at the end of the day she just stuck to the plan," Evans said.

Older sister Pippa Yule also impressed the judges, winning gold in pattern and sparring for her category. She beat another New Zealand boy to secure the win.

"There were some tough competitors. I was quite nervous," said Pippa.

"The main thing for me is her drive. She never gave up. Even just with the training, everything that I would put her through, she would never argue, she would never have an attitude about it," commented Evans.

The sisters were among 13 competitors from the ITF Taekwon-do Centre in Hastings who travelled for the event.