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Big surprises in first session of Karate competition at The World Games

2017-07-24

Big surprises in first session of Karate competition at The World Games

The first session of the Karate competition at The World Games provided plenty of surprises. Young and upcoming karatekas took the spotlight of the event by producing big shocks in the tournament after reaching the finals of the tournament and defeating top favourites and frontrunners.  

 

The first session of the Karate competition at The World Games provided plenty of surprises as young and upcoming karatekas took the spotlight of the event and produced big shocks. Rising karatekas reached the finals of the tournament and defeated top favourites and frontrunners.  

In Male Kata competition, World champion Ryo Kiyuna confirmed his favourite status and qualified for the final after beating France New Caledonia’s Vu Duc Minh Dack, so to present his candidacy to be one of the biggest stars of the event. 

“I think I have been getting better and better in each bout. I still have a lot of room for improvement and I hope I can still grow my performance, “ said Kiyuna, who has not lost a bout in major international competitions in nearly four years. 

“Every match is important, from now to Tokyo 2020 which is the goal we all have on our minds, so I am trying to get better in every bout,” stated the 27 year-old karateka. 

At the other side of the tatami, the Japanese Kata ace will meet Damian Quintero of Spain who reached the final after defeating current The World Games champion Antonio Diaz of Venezuela. The bout for gold in the Male Kata competition will be a repetition of the final of the 2016 World Championships which finished with a victory for the Japanese karateka. 

“I took very big risks to defeat Antonio Diaz in semifinals. I knew that in order to beat him I had to do my best and I chose a difficult and risky kata in the bout. It worked out well for me and I am very happy to be in the final,” said world ranking leader Quintero.  

KIYOU SHIMIZU TO CONTINUE DOMINATING FEMALE KATA COMPETITION

Presenting a flawless performance, Japan’s Kiyou Shimizu cruised to the final of Female Kata competition. The two-time World champion beat Sakura Kokumai of USA in semifinals to make it to the last bout of the tournament, thus aiming at extending her impressive winning streak. 

“I have been working hard for this competition for a long time,” said Shimizu who has never lost a bout in nearly six years. “My intention is to focus on reaching my top level at the Olympic Games, and The World Games are an important stepping stone in this goal. I know I can be even better and I am putting my mind into it,” said the 2016 and 2014 world champion.  

Her rival in the final will be Sandra Sanchez of Spain. The world ranking leader beat defending The World Games champion Sandy Scordo by unanimous decision and confirmed her frontrunner status. 

“I am so happy, I am very thrilled to be in the final. I felt great on the tatami and gave my best there. It is a sensational feeling because we can see that all our hard work paid off,” declared the European champion.

BIG UPSETS IN FEMALE KUMITE COMPETITION 

Chinese Taipei’s Tzu-Yun Wen produced one of the big upsets of the day after defeating former world champion Sara Cardin of Italy to reach the final of Female Kumite -55kg. The Asian champion showed top form and beat fan favourite Cardin in the quest to gold. 

World champion Emilie Thouy of France also suffered a big upset as Brazil’s Valeria Kumizaki shocked the world title-holder to qualify for the last bout of the competition. The current Pan American champion from Brazil dominated the clash and earned the right to meet Chinese Taipei’s Tzu-Yun Wen in the final.  

The title-deciding clash of Female Kumite -50kg will feature world champion Alexandra Recchia of France against Japan’s Miho Miyahara.  France’s Alexandra Recchia is the current world champion and world ranking leader and demonstrated top form after beating Poland’s Magdalena Nowakowska in semifinals. Japan’s Miho Miyahara defeated current The World Games champion Serap Ozcelik of Turkey to make it to the final in another shocking result. 

Hosts of Poland also had reasons to celebrate since local national champion Magdalena Nowakowska reached the semifinals of Female Kumite -50kg. The Wroclaw-native karateka made it to the final stages of the competition in front of family and friends and had a strong support from the stands. “I am from Wroclaw; for me Wroclaw is the best city in the world so I am very happy that I had the opportunity to compete here in front of family. Making it to semifinals was an even better reason for me to be happy,” said the 25 year-old Karateka. 

RISING KARATEKAS SHOW IMPACT OF YOUTH KARATE IN MALE KUMITE

Young karatekas took a stand in Male Kumite competition and surprised favourites in the categories in contention today. In Male Kumite -60kg, Firdosi Farzaliyev of Azerbaijan shocked two-time world champion Douglas Brose of Brazil to make it to his first final in international competition since getting the second position at Karate 1-Premier League Hamburg last year. 

Iran’s Amir Mehdizadeh will be his rival at the final. The current World and Asian champion confirmed his ruling status in the category after producing a convincing victory over Spain’s Matias Gomez in semifinals. The Iranian world ranking leader hopes to extend his impressive tally of awards after claiming gold in the last editions of World and Asian Championships. 

The Male Kumite -67kg category will also have representation of world champions since Jordan Thomas of England qualified for the title-deciding bout. The current world title-holder defeated Deivis Ferreras of the Dominican Republic who became one of the surprises of the competition. 

The upcoming generations of karatekas further showed their top level, as rising star Steven Dacosta of France qualified for the final of Male Kumite -67kg following an impressive victory over Algeria’s Abdelatif Benkhaled in semifinals. The 20 year-old karateka aims at claiming the third gold medal this year after his victories in Karate 1-Premier League Rotterdam and EKF Junior, Cadet & U21 Championships. 

Karate action will continue in the afternoon session when the new king and queens of The World Games will be crowned.