The 2023 Karate 1-Premier League Dublin started Friday with Grand Winners Anzhelika Terliuga and Yorgelis Salazar among the stars of the day.

YORGELIS SALAZAR CELEBRATES GRAND WINNER AWARD IN STYLE

Venezuela’s Yorgelis Salazar celebrated her Grand Winner award with a fantastic performance in Dublin. The recently proclaimed Grand Winner in Female Kumite -50kg reached the final of the category after excelling on the tatami of Dublin and defeating Croatia’s Jelena Pehar by an impressive 14-4.

Two-time Grand Winner Salazar hopes to win her second Karate 1-Premier League title of the season and she will fight for the crown against Croatia’s Ema Sgardelli. The promising karateka from Croatia, who is the current U21 European Championships runner-up, surprised favourites and qualified for her first Karate 1-Premier League final following a slim 2-1 victory over Ukraine’s Kateryna Kryva.

GRAND WINNER ANZHELIKA TERLIUGA AIMS TO CONTINUE DOMINATING FEMALE KUMITE -55KG

After winning gold in Rabat and Fukuoka and securing her third consecutive Grand Winner award, Anzhelika Terliuga of Ukraine continues showing domination of the category of Female Kumite -55kg. The Olympic Games silver medallist qualified for her 21^st final of Karate 1-Premier League after beating Syria Mancinelli of Italy 5-2.

The other side of the tatami is taken by Shiori Nakamura of Japan who edged teammate Shima Airi 1-0 to qualify for her fourth final of Karate 1-Premier League.

MO SHEUNG GRACE LAU AND HIKARU ONO TO CLASH FOR GOLD AND GRAND WINNER AWARD

 The two frontrunners in Female Kata, Mo Sheung Grace Lau of Hong Kong and Hikaru Ono of Japan, confirmed their status as the main favourites to take the Grand Winner award of the category as they qualified for the final of the division.

Defending Grand Winner Hikaru Ono aims at keeping the special karategi with the golden embroidery and reached the final after beating teammate Maho Ono in the semi-finals (Scores of 44.10 to 42.50). Meanwhile, main contender and current Asian champion Mo Sheung Grace Lau beat Japan’s Nakaji Hisami to make it to her fourth final of Karate 1-Premier League this season (Scores of 43.80 to 42.40)

Therefore, the winner of the final between Mo Sheung Grace Lau and Hikaru Ono will be declared Grand Winner of Female Kata.

HIROMU HASHIMOTO SHINES IN MALE KUMITE -60KG

Hiromu Hashimoto of Japan took the spotlight in Male Kumite -60kg after reaching the final of the category and producing a sensational performance today.

The winner of Karate 1-Premier League Fukuoka and current continental bronze medallist Hashimoto defeated number 1 in the standings Abdullah Shaaban of Jordan in the semi-final 3-1 thus outclassing all his rivals in the quest to be the best of the season.

The final of the category will see Hashimoto fighting for gold against Rayyan Meziane of France. The promising French karateka defeated Christos-Stefanos Xenos of Greece 3-1 in the semi-finals and aims at his first-ever international title.

 NEWCOMERS PREVAIL IN MALE KUMITE -75KG

The final of Male Kumite -75kg will see newcomers Hasan Masarweh of Jordan and Enzo Berthon of France clashing for gold. It is the first final of the season for Berthon who upset Andrii Zaplitnyi of Ukraine 2-0 in the semi-finals, and the first-ever Karate 1-Premier League final for Marsaweh who defeated Quentin Mahauden of Belgium in the semi-finals 4-1.

GRAND WINNER DIONYSIOS XENOS DOMINATES MALE KUMITE -67KG

Greece's Dionysos Xenos made it to another final this season with a powerful demonstration of abilities in Male Kumite -67kg. The current Grand Winner defeated Olympian Abdel Rahman Almasatfa of Jordan 8-5 and aims at keeping the Grand Winner award.

The other side of the tatami is taken by Yugo Kozaki of Japan. A first-time Karate 1-Premier League finalist, Kozaki produced an impressive 8-0 triumph over Luca Maresca of Italy to reach his second international final.

The Karate 1-Premier League Dublin is scheduled from September 8 to 10. The eliminations will be available LIVE on the WKF YouTube channel. The medal bouts on Sunday can be followed on Fight Sports and many TV networks around the world. FULL LIST OF TV NETWORKS

2032 KARATE 1-PREMIER LEAGUE DUBLIN