The new World Cadet and Junior World champions were crowned on the fourth day of the 2022 World Cadet, Junior & U21 Championships being held in Konya (Turkiye). Japan and Egypt were the big winners of the day as they claimed five and four gold medals respectively.

JAPAN PREVAIL IN KATA CATEGORIES

The Japanese delegation showcased outstanding domination of the Kata categories as they went home with all the gold medals at stake in these divisions today.

Azusa Takata took the World crown in Cadet Kata Female after defeating Nadlima Layla of Indonesia by 25.6 to 24.86.

Teammate Ukyo Tatsu followed suit and became the World champion in Cadet Kata Male following a convincing victory over Jonas Abu Wahib of Germany (26.0 to 25.34).

Japan’s success in Kata continued in the Junior categories. Aoba Furukawa took the World crown in Junior Kata Female after beating Paola García Lozano of Spain by a slim 24.8 to 24.76.

The final of Junior Kata Male was even tighter. Rizuki Saito of Japan claimed the title over Furkan Kaynar of Turkiye in a bout that ended in a tie but was solved by the tie-breaker criteria (25.4 to 25.4)

However, Japan did not just win medals in Kata. Towana Uchida increased the gold medal count for the birth-nation of the sport after claiming the title in Cadet Kumite Female -47kg. The young Japanese karateka beat Zuzanna Dopieralska of Poland by 1-0.

EGYPT IMPRESS IN KUMITE

The first medal for the Egyptian team came in Cadet Kumite Male -52kg. Abdalla Aly Eltohamy defeated Heidar Safi of Germany by a slim 1-0.

Egyptian fans did not have to wait long for the second World title. Mohamed Ashraf Mohamed claimed the second World crown for Egypt with his victory in Cadet Kumite Male -57kg. He needed just one “Yuko” or one-point technique to beat Thomas Krijnen of The Netherlands by 1-0.

The African powerhouse nation of the sport extended their success to Junior divisions as Aly Ganna claimed the crown in Junior Kumite Female -48kg. The young Egyptian karatekas took an impressive 8-0 victory over Phoung Thao Nguyen of Vietnam.

The outstanding performance of Egypt in Junior Kumite continued in the category of Female Kumite -59kg. Fatma Sorour defeated Emma Lili Loyal of Hungary (1-1)

THREE GOLD FOR TURKIYE

Local karatekas used the home ground factor to take the flag of the organising nation to the top of the podium. Buse Kilic became the first World Champion of Turkiye following a victory by “Hantei” or decision (0-0) over Maysa Ksantini of Tunisia in Cadet Kumite -54kg.  

The second gold for the hosts was taken by Enes Fatih Kurt in Junior Kumite Male -68kg. The promising Turkish karateka defeated Ali Mugari of Saudi Arabia by a whooping 10-1.

In another impressive performance, local up-and-coming star Yusuf Eren Temizel won the third title for hosts as he beat Yousef Nofal of Jordan 8-0 in Junior Kumite Male +76kg.

Two remarkable demonstrations of authority caught the attention of fans in Cadet divisions. Alikhan Kadyrgali of Kazakhstan beat Waleed Qatamish of Jordan 7-0 in the final of Cadet Kumite Male -70kg.

Meanwhile, Ilias Psomas of Greece took a convincing 8-0 victory over Saveli Bolotskihh of Estonia in Cadet Kumite +70kg

The victory of Nazim Douaidi of Algeria in Cadet Kumite Male -63kg (1-0), and Sara Tomic of Croatia’s triumph in Cadet Kumite Female +54kg (1-0) completed the gold medal list in Cadet divisions.

Meanwhile, in the Junior competition, Emre Saljiu won the first title for Montenegro following a hard-fought victory over Saif Addeen Bani Fares of Jordan in Junior Kumite Male -76kg (6-0). Thi Dieu Ly Nguyen of Vietnam won gold in Junior Kumite Female -53kg over Nejma Imitik of Morocco (2-0) and Hannah Riedel of Germany became the world champion in Junior Kumite Female +59kg over Rahma Tolba of Egypt (3-3)

Farid Savadov of Azerbaijan in Junior Kumite Male -55kg (2-1) and Maxim Moskvichyov of Kazakhstan in Junior Kumite Male -61kg (0-0) wrapped up the list of new World champions.  

The 2022 World Cadet, Junior & U21 Championships will conclude on Sunday with the last categories at stake. All the finals will be available by streaming on the WKF YouTube channel. CLICK HERE to go to the WKF YouTube channel.

MICRO-SITE OF THE 2022 WORLD CADET, JUNIOR & U21 CHAMPIONSHIPS