The 2023 Karate 1-Series A Konya started Friday. The delegation of Iran was the big winner of the opening day as representatives of the Asian nation qualified for three finals.

Powerhouse nation of Iran started the day in high mode and reached three finals. Alireza Akbari took the flag of Iran to the final of Male Kumite -84kg following a victory by “Hantei” or decision over Khvicha Kiparoizde of Georgia (0-0). In the semi-finals, Wu Chun-Wei of Chinese Taipei prevented a Georgian final and defeated Luka Vasadze also from Georgia by 2-1.

The category of Female Kumite +68kg will see an All-Iran final as Shima Alesaadi and Hananeh Salehi Laleh Marzi will clash for gold. Alesadi defeated Italy’s Linda Stasi (2-1) while her teammate upset Fatma Uygur of Turkiye 2-0.

Hosts of Turkiye also had reasons to celebrate. The final of Male Kumite -75kg will have two competitors from the organising country fighting for the title. Omer Faruk Yurur claimed a convincing 8-0 victory over Mahdi Shahgol of Iran in the semi-finals to reach the last bout of the event. Eren Akkurt, also from Turkiye beat Oleksandr Cherniaiev of Ukraine in the semi-finals 3-0 to make it to his first international final.

The prevalence of Japanese athletes in Kata categories continued in Konya and the final of Female Kata will be an All-Japan affair. Mirisa Ohuchi who took gold at the opening event of the season in Athens will clash for her second consecutive title after topping the final pool with a score of 41.9 and “Papuren” kata. Her rival is teammate Nodoka Yamada who qualified for the final after getting a score of 41.3 with 4“Papuren” kata as well.

Two top nations will meet for the crown in Female Kumite -68kg. Pamela Bodei of Italy made it to the final following a 3-0 triumph over Mayar Zeinelabdin of Egypt while Laura Alikul of Kazakhstan qualified for the title-deciding bout after upsetting Wiktoria Grejner of Poland 4-0.

The clash of Sanad Sufyani of Saudi Arabia against Anes Bostandzic of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Male Kumite +84kg and the final Turkiye vs Kuwait in Male Team Kata completed the list of finals on day 1 of #Karate1Konya.  

The competition continues Saturday with the second day of action. The medal bouts will be available LIVE on the WKF YouTube channel.

2023 KARATE 1-SERIES A KONYA