Karate fans will have plenty of top karatekas to look up to at the upcoming 2018 Karate 1-Premier League in Dubai. The second big event of the season of international Karate is scheduled to take place in Dubai from February 16-18, and some of the biggest names of the sport have confirmed their participation at the anticipated tournament. 

Karate fans will have plenty of heroes to look up to in the upcoming 2018 Karate 1-Premier League in Dubai. The second big event of the international season is scheduled to take place in Dubai from February 16-18, and some of the biggest names of the sport have confirmed their participation in the anticipated tournament. 

As the registration process for the 2018 Karate 1-Premier League in Dubai closed on Friday, over 600 competitors from no less than 73 countries will take part in the second big event of the year. With the inscription limited to the top 100 athletes in WKF Ranking, the tournament to be held in the Emirate city is set to continue the thrills and excitement of the opening event which was celebrated in Paris a week ago. 

All but one of the Grand Winners are registered to participate in the Karate 1-Premier League in Dubai. The current owners of the title of “Best of the Best” of Karate 1-Premier League expect to take a step forward in Dubai since only two of them – Xiaoyan Yin and Sajad Ganjzadeh – managed to reach the top of the podium at the first tournament of the season in Paris. 

The competition in Paris was so fierce that barely a half of the Grand Winners were able to claim medals in Paris. In addition to China's Xiaoyan Yin and Iran's Sajad Ganjzadeh, Sandra Sanchez and Damian Quintero of Spain both took bronze in Kata categories, just as Anzhelika Terliuga of Ukraine in Female Kumite -55kg. Sadriddin Saymatov of Uzbekistan in Male Kumite -60kg and Stanislav Horuna of Ukraine in Male Kumite -75kg finished on a high note with their bronze medals, while the rest of the Grand Winners on contention suffered early eliminations. All of the 11 Grand Winners on the starting list in Dubai appear as front-runners of their highly-contested categories at stake and hope to take their golden karate-gis to the top of the podium.  

UP-AND-COMING KARATEKAS HOPING TO CONTINUE CAUSING SENSATION 

Thrilling and surprising results marked the Karate 1-Premier League in Paris, with young and promising karatekas claiming shocking victories over top favourites. While the front-runners will try to recover their poise and confirm their leading status in Dubai, the astonishing young karatekas who startled in Paris hope to demonstrate that their victories in Paris were not a one-time hit. 

Steven Da Costa became one of the sensations of the Karate 1-Premier League in Paris with his impressive demonstration of offensive abilities in Male Kumite -67kg. The 21-year-old karateka aims at the podium in his first appearance in Dubai.  

Meanwhile, fellow France promising competitor Nadege Ait-Ibrahim will try to repeat her impressive demonstration in Female Kumite +68kg. All eyes in the Male Kata category will be set on Chinese Taipei’s Yi-Ta Wang, who surprised with his silver medal in Paris. 

Iran topped the medal table of the Karate 1-Premier League in Dubai last year with three golds and a total of seven medals, while Turkey were also successful with nine medals. Italy presents the largest delegation this year in Dubai with 39 athletes, followed by Iran and Turkey with 37 and 36 competitors respectively. 

The Karate 1-Premier League in Dubai will be available to a worldwide viewing audience on KARATEWORLD.TV and on many TV networks around the world. 

For a full list of TV Networks and countries CLICK HERE and select your country to see where you can watch the Karate 1-Premier League in Paris.