The 2023 Karate 1-Youth League Venice started Thursday with a thrilling first day of the competition that had U21 categories and promising stars taking the spotlight. The event is the most massive Karate competition thus far with over 4000 athletes participating.

Italy celebrated their first gold medal of the tournament through Pietro Pio Califano’s brilliant performance in U21 Kumite Male -67kg. The local representative defeated Luka Tomljanovic of Croatia 4-1.

The Japanese delegation continued demonstrating strength in Kata divisions. Sarah Kamijo opened the gold medal count for Japan as she took the title of U21 Female Kata. The Japanese karateka defeated Italy’s Elena Roversi with scores of 25.1 to 24.9.

In U21 Male Kata the crown was also taken by a Japanese karateka, in another Japan vs Italy final. Taiga Toi excelled in his performance of “Anan Dai” kata and defeated Italy’s Vicenzo Pappalardo by a slim 24.9 to 24.7.

The crown in U21 Female Kumite -55kg went to Mia Bitsch of Germany who confirmed her status as one of the most promising karatekas in the category. The winner of the Karate 1-Series A events in Matosinhos and Pamplona took a slim 1-0 victory to beat Nejra Sipovic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The German delegation also added the gold medal in U21 Female Kumite -68kg. Hannah Riedel claimed a convincing 9-1 victory to beat Briana Manica of Romania in the final.

Germany could have taken one more gold, but Amelie Lucke was defeated by Egypt’s Elfath Malak Abo in U21 Female Kumite +68kg. The Egyptian karateka won the final by a slim 1-0.

Hana Debeljak of Slovenia won her first international title after upsetting Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Emina Sipovic in the final of U21 Female Kumite -61kg 4-2.

Promising karateka Anass Abdelmalki of Belgium won the title in U21 Kumite Male -60kg after upsetting local karateka Marco Gaetano Spampinato by 3-0. The Belgian delegation also celebrated the gold medal in U21 Kumite Male -84kg as Danyl Anisimov became the champion of the division with a 5-4 victory over Salih Halilovic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.  

Ukrainian karatekas also prevailed today. Daniil Kasianov won gold in U21 Kumite Male +84kg after edging Stefan Stojanovik of North Macedonia 1-0 while Heorhii Pitsul also from Ukraine became the champion of U21 Kumite Male -75kg following a 5-1 triumph over Slovakia’s Maros Janovcik.

The competition continues on day 2 of action from Venice. The finals are available LIVE on the WKF YouTube channel.

2023 KARATE 1-  YOUTH LEAGUE VENICE

(Pictures: @www.karateyouthleague.com)