Junior World Champion, Aaliyah Powell has been shortlisted for the SportsAid One-to-Watch Award which identifies the accomplishments of young athletes across British sport.

SportsAid’s One-to-Watch Award was launched in 2006 with double Olympic medallist and diving world champion Tom Daley the inaugural winner.

Paralympic champion Hollie Arnold MBE claimed the accolade in 2008 with para-athlete Sally Brown, hockey player Harry Martin, heptathlete Morgan Lake and sprinter Jodie Williams among the previous victors.

Powell is now in line to join such illustrious company as one of ten nominees selected from around 1,000 rising British stars supported by SportsAid across more than 60 different sports.

Upon hearing the news she said: “Being nominated for the One-to-Watch Award means I’m definitely doing something right! I was a bit shocked when I heard. I didn’t think I’d be in the top 10 out of everyone in the country. I wouldn’t have been able to get to certain competitions without SportsAid’s support, and that means I wouldn’t have won some of the medals I have. It’s allowed me to progress and be more noticed in the sport.

“Taekwondo is very expensive but all of it is self-funded, I have to go to competitions all-around to be able to play against athletes of good quality to make myself better. So when I do go to big competitions, I’m not out of my depth. That’s a lot of money – it can cost up to £10,000 a year and that includes travel, hotels, competitions and then the fights themselves, equipment and other stuff.”

The winner of SportsAid’s prestigious One-to-Watch Award will be revealed at the charity’s annual SportsBall, sponsored by the Royal Bank of Canada, in London on Thursday 15 November. Please visit www.sportsaid.org.uk for further information.