The 2023 Karate 1-Youth League celebrated its second day of action Friday with Junior categories taking the stage. The local karatekas were the big winners of the day after winning four gold medals.

Hosts of Italy started the day on a high note with the title of Junior Kumite Female -48kg. Asia De Falco got the title for Italy after beating Christina Triada Pappa of Greece 6-3.

The second crown for the organising country today was claimed by Valentina Marruci in Junior Female Kumite -53kg. The Italian karateka defeated Teodora Tsaneva of Bulgaria in the final 3-0.

The Italian delegation also celebrated the title of Junior Kumite Female -66kg. Anna Pia Desiderio defeated Ajla Sipovic of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the final 3-0.

Raffaele Astaroita gave even more reasons to celebrate to local fans with his triumph in Junior Kumite Male -68kg. The Italian representative upset Adel Omara of Egypt by “Hantei” or decision (0-0).

Spain’s Carla Guardeño produced one of the upsets of the day as she defeated local karateka Miriam Ederar in the final of Junior Female Kata by a slim 24.5 to 24.2.

The Spanish delegation could not get the double crown in the Kata divisions since Alejandro Lacon was defeated in the final of Junior Male Kata by Dino Huic of Croatia, with scores of 24.4 to 24.1.

Croatia added one more gold medal today as Sara Tomic became the champion of Junior Kumite Female +66kg. The promising Croatian karateka beat Dunja Rajic of Serbia 4-0.

The final of Junior Kumite Female -59kg was an All-French affair with two karatekas of the powerhouse nation of the sport fighting for gold. Sydney Yvon beat teammate Celya Retory 3-1.

The title of Junior Kumite Male -55kg was claimed by Amin Abdelmalki of Belgium who took a convincing 7-0 triumph over Azerbaijan’s Farid Hajizada while Nazarii Prannychuk of Ukraine became the champion of Junior Kumite Male -61kg following a 7-2 victory over Kenan Siljak of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Ukraine also claimed the crown in Junior Kumite Male -76kg. Denys Piantkivskyi defeated Italy’s Gennaro Ingenito 3-1 in the final.

The list of gold medallists on day 2 was completed by Nikoloz Gigauri of Georgia who took the crown of Junior Kumite Male +76kg after beating Alexander Davies of Luxembourg 5-1.

The competition continues on day 3 of action from Venice. The finals are available LIVE on the WKF YouTube channel.

2023 KARATE 1-  YOUTH LEAGUE VENICE

(Pictures: @www.karateyouthleague.com)