AN Earley schoolgirl will represent Great Britain in the Canoe Marathon World Cup in Portugal next month.

Hafsa Kabeer, a 17-year-old at Kendrick School and Longridge Canoe Club member, has been selected for the Junior Women’s K1 category and is one of only 10 competitors to be offered a place in the GB team.

Selection for the competition was the result of several assessment races and performances at the National Squad training days throughout the year, where Kabeer proved herself worthy by training hard and consistently demonstrating speed, power and endurance.

Last year, following her bronze medal in the Under 16 Girls’ category at the British National Marathon Championships in Norwich, she was selected to represent Great Britain in the French Nationals as part of the GB Development Team, where she received the silver medal in K2 (two-person kayak).

A few weeks earlier, she won bronze at the Belgium Sprint Nationals in Neerpelt. She was also the fastest junior lady at the Interclub Hasler Finals which took place in Oxford last year.

In 2014, Kabeer was Great Britain’s K2 champion. She has also won the K1 title of British National champion in 2009 and 2011. All of these achievements have amounted to an incredible tally of more than 100 medals and trophies – including both Reading and Wokingham Sports Personalities of the Year.

Talented Kabeer has also represented Great Britain as part of the under 18’s Great Britain team, which came fourth at the World Dragon Boat Championship held in Hungary in 2013, and won both silver and bronze medals at the European Dragon Boat Championships in Czech Republic in 2014.