Damian Quintero of Spain and Gogita Arkania of Georgia received the Grand Winners award at the Karate 1-Premier League Matosinhos this past weekend.

The ceremony was headed by WKF President Antonio Espinós and was held in Matosinhos after the celebration of the Karate 1-Premier League event in the Portuguese city. The two Karate Stars received the commemorative trophy and diploma that recognise them as the “Best of the Best” of the year in their respective categories.

Spain’s Damian Quintero won the Grand Winner award after leading the category of Male Kata in the last two editions of the Karate 1-Premier League. The current WKF World Ranking leader won medals in all five appearances in Karate 1-Premier League events in 2020 and 2021, including gold medals in the 2020 Karate 1-Premier League Dubai and the 2021 Karate 1-Premier League Istanbul.

Damian Quintero said:

“Being the Grand Winner is a big responsibility for me. Staying on top requires keeping a constant high level throughout the season. On the other hand, the Grand Winner award is very satisfying because it means that all our goals of the season were achieved and that our hard work paid off.”

Georgia’s Gogita Arkania topped the Karate 1-Premier League standings in Male Kumite +84kg. Arkania, who is a two-time World champion and current World titleholder finished the joint 2020-2021 season of Karate 1-Premier League with six medals in seven events, including golds in the 2021 Karate 1-Premier League Moscow, the 2021 Karate 1-Premier League Lisbon, and the 2020 Karate 1-Premier League Paris.

Gogita Arakania said:

“I am very happy to be the Grand Winner because it is the first time that I win this award. I worked very hard for this, and it makes me very happy to wear the gold karategi for the first time.”

In addition to receiving the trophy and the diploma, the incumbent Grand Winner has the honour of wearing the special karategi with the golden embroidery on the shoulders throughout the season of Karate 1-Premier League.