Continental Championships
Olympian Abdelaziz Abdalla and World Champions Ahlam Youssef and Youssef Badawy among heroes of Day 2 of UFAK Championships
2023-08-19
The second day of the 2023 UFAK Karate Championships put the eliminations of senior categories and Para-Karate divisions on the stage. Olympian Abdelaziz Abdalla, World Champions Ahlam Youssef and Youssef Badawy, and local heroes Aya En-Nesry and Abdel Ali Jina were among the big winners of the day.
Olympian Abdelaziz Abdalla of Egypt will try to win his fourth continental crown as he qualified for his first UFAK final after claiming the title at home in 2021. The Olympian and current African silver medallist edged Oussama Zaid of Algeria in the semi-finals of Male Kumite -75kg 1-0. His rival in the final is Oussama Fahssi of Morocco who reached his first final in senior divisions after surprising favourites (10-3 over Mohamed Abudabous of Libya in the semi-finals).
The final of Female Kata will see another clash between the two dominators of the tournament thus far. Aya En-Nesry of Morocco qualified for the final after topping the pool with a score of 40.0 with “Gojushiho Sho” kata while Aya Hesham of Egypt aims at keeping the continental crown as she reached the last round with a score of 39.9 with “Gojushiho Dai” kata.
The quest for domination in African Karate continued in Kumite disciplines since the final of Female Kumite -50kg will also have an Egypt vs Morocco clash. Chaimae Elhayti of Morocco used the home-ground factor to make it to the final (3-2 over Cylia Ouikene of Algeria). Defending champion Reem Ahmed Salama of Egypt aims for back-to-back continental titles following a 5-0 triumph over Chahed Louati of Tunisia.
Meanwhile, current runner-up Abdel Ali Jina of Morocco hopes to win his first continental gold after qualifying for the final of Male Kumite -60kg (9-1 over Talla Razakh Ndiaye of Senegal). His rival will be Amr Alaa Aboukora of Egypt who surprised favourites and aims at his first medal in senior categories following a 5-4 triumph over Naim Abdesselam Rouichi of Algeria.
Three-time continental champion Ali Elsawy of Egypt will try to recover the crown of Male Kumite -67kg that he won for the last time in 2021 after reaching the final of the category with a 4-0 victory over Laith Haddaji of Tunisia. The other side of the tatami is taken by current U21 continental runner-up Said Oubaya of Morocco who reached his first final in senior categories with a convincing 7-1 triumph over Fouad Benbara of Algeria.
The last clash Egypt vs Morocco for gold in kumite occurred in Female Kumite +68kg. Maroua Eddarhri of Morocco beat Chehinez Jemi of Tunisia 6-4 while Menna Shaaban Okila of Egypt upset Chaima Oudira of Algeria 3-2.
Meanwhile in Male Kata, the 2022 gold medallist Karim Ghaly of Egypt will clash for the title against 2022 runner-up Saber Benmekhlouf of Algeria. The representative of Egypt made it to the final after getting a score of 40.5 with “Unsu” kata while the Algerian karateka topped the pool with a score of 39.3 with “Gojushiho Sho” kata.
The final of Female Kumite -55kg will also be a clash between Egypt vs Algeria as World champion Ahlam Youssef used her defending champion status to reach the final after beating Hiba Fellaoui of Morocco 5-1. Louiza Abouriche of Algeria who is the current runner-up of the category aims at her first continental crown as she beat Chirine Zarrati of Tunisia 4-3.
The other World champion in action today, Youssef Badawy of Egypt also qualified for the final of his category, Male Kumite -84kg. The world and continental titleholder claimed an impressive 10-0 victory in the semi-finals over Fasta Niyonkuru of Burundi. His rival in the final is Yaser Ali of Tunisia who beat Mohamed Alsuwee of Libya in the semi-finals.
In Female Kumite -61kg, current bronze medallist Dahab Ali of Egypt will try to reclaim the crown she won in 2021 after defeating Chaima Midi of Algeria in the semi-finals. The other side of the tatami is taken by current runner-up Wafa Mahjoub of Tunisia (2-1 over Fatima-Zahra Chajai of Morocco).
The final Female Kumite -68kg will have Ola Elmedany of Egypt and Wissal Ezzar of Tunisia fighting for gold. The Egyptian karateka defeated Samira Compaore of Burkina Faso 3-0 while the representative of Tunisia beat Siad Aya Nour El Bahdja of Algeria 3-1.
The only title-deciding clash without representatives of Egypt and Morocco is Male Kumite +84kg, and the crown will go to either Hocine Daikhi of Algeria or Houssem Edin Choiya of Tunisia. The current silver medallist from Algeria beat Wilfried Kabore of Burkina Faso 6-0 while first-timer Choiya defeated favourite Mahmoud Taha Tarek of Egypt 1-0.
The double clash between Egypt vs Morocco in both Male Team Kata and Female Team Kata completed the list of finals in senior divisions.
The new continental champions in Para-Karate were also crowned today. Marwa Hasany of Egypt won the title in Blind/Visually Impaired Female K10 while teammate Abdalla Abdelmoaty took the crown in Blind/Visually Impaired Male K10.
The titles in Intellectually Impaired also went to Egypt as Nada Eldieb and Moustafa Hassan won in Female and Male K21 while Salma Alaaeldin Ebrahim and Ahmed Elbeltagy took the titles in Female and Male K22 respectively.
The winners of the Wheelchair user divisions were Fatma Mahmoud and Abdelaziz Abouelnaga of Egypt.
(Picture: Frmkda)