The influence of Karate in young ages will be showcased at the historic 2017 World Cadet, Junior & U21 Championships to be held in Tenerife (Spain). The celebration of Youth Karate will take the spotlight of the sport from October 25 to 29 in a massive event that is set to break all participation records. 

The influence of Karate in young ages will be showcased at the historic 2017 World Cadet, Junior & U21 Championships to be held in Tenerife (Spain). The celebration of youth Karate will take the spotlight of the sport from October 25 to 29 in a massive event that is set to break all participation records. 

Never before in the history of the sport has a tournament like the anticipated championships to be celebrated in Tenerife attracted such a multitudinous attendance. As the registration process ended on Sunday, hundreds of young karatekas from all over the world have confirmed their participation at underage Karate’s biggest event, thus taking the World Cadet, Junior & U21 Karate Championships to new and ground-breaking levels. 

Over 1700 young athletes from no less than 109 countries will compete in Tenerife. This tally crushes all previous participation records; at the last edition of the World Cadet, Junior & U21 Championships, which was held in Indonesia in 2015, 1354 karatekas from 86 countries took part in the competition. 

Two years earlier in Guadalajara (Spain), 1335 competitors from 100 nations were registered to participate, while 1167 athletes joined the competition in 2011 in Malaysia. In the Senior World Championships last year in Austria, the participation count ended with 1049 entries from 110 countries. 

The 21% increase of registered athletes (32% increase in six years) further demonstrates the rising impact of the sport among young ages. It also illustrates young Karatekas’ growing interest to succeed in the sport, as the anticipated debut of Karate at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires in 2018 is on the horizon.  

Karate’s universality will be displayed in the massive event in Tenerife since competitors from five continents will clash for gold in the six tatamis to be installed at the Santiago Martin sports hall. Representatives of powerhouses of the sport such as Iran, Russia, Ukraine, Egypt, Turkey and hosts of Spain present the largest delegations with a maximum of 35 competitors. 

Japan demonstrated the strength of youth karate in the birth nation of the sport topping the medal table of the 2015 edition of the event with a tally of 18 medals and eight golds. Turkey with 13 medals and Egypt with 21 awards also presented remarkable performances.