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Promising karatekas prevail in day 2 of Karate 1-Series A Santiago

2019-09-22

Promising karatekas prevail in day 2 of Karate 1-Series A Santiago

The second day of Karate action at the 2019 Karate 1-Series A Santiago was taken by young karatekas and promising heroes of the sport as an opportunity to show their abilities at the highest level. Youngsters and Japanese representatives were the big winners of day 2 of the tournament.  

Young karatekas, promising stars of the sports and Japanese representatives were the big winners of the second day of competition at the 2019 Karate 1-Series A Santiago. 

Two promising karatekas will demonstrate the power of younger generations in the final of Male Kumite -60kg. Eray Samdan of Turkey who is 22-years-old and current Grand Winner of the category qualified for his third final in four events of Karate 1-Series A this year following an outstanding 8-0 victory in semi-finals over World champion Angelo Crescenzo of Italy. Meanwhile, 27-year-old Naoto Sago of Japan reached his second final of the season of Karate 1-Series A after edging Spain’s Alejandro Ortiz Fernandez in semi-finals 1-0. 

FIVE FINALS FOR JAPAN 

The title-deciding bout of Female Kata will be one of the highlights of the last day of competition as two of the top competitors of the category will be clashing head-to-head for gold. Viviana Bottaro of Italy who is placed in third position in WKF World Ranking is fighting for the title against Fifth-placed in WKF World ranking Hikaru Ono of Japan. The Italian current European Championships runner-up prevailed in the last pool with “Papuren” kata and a score of 26.2, while Ono hopes to extend Japan’s domination in the category after reaching the final also with “Papuren” kata and a score of 25.28. 

The fourth option of gold for Japan today, after Hikaru Ono, Naoto Sago and the Male Kata Team, was claimed by Hiroto Gomyo in Male Kumite -67kg. The Japanese karateka who has not made it to the finals since his victory in 2018 Karate 1-Premier League Istanbul defeated local hero Camilo Velozo in a thrilling semi-final 6-5. The other spot in the final is for Brazil’s Vinicius Figueira. The Brazilian karateka takes second place in WKF World ranking and qualified for the last day of action following a slim 1-0 victory over Kazakhstan’s Didar Amirali in semi-finals. 

Meanwhile, Ayaka Saito completed the sensational day for Japanese karatekas with her qualification to the final of Female Kumite +68kg. It will be the third final in Karate 1-Series A this year for Saito. The 23-year-old karateka edged Isabela Rodrigues of Brazil in semi-finals 2-2. Her rival in the title-deciding bout is Germany’s Johanna Kneer. The German karateka who is 85th in WKF World ranking surprised favourites and beat Brazil’s Rafaela Silva in semi-finals 2-1. 

CHILE CELEBRATE JOAQUIN GONZALEZ LAVIN’S QUALIFICATION TO FINAL 

The host country could finally celebrate the qualification of one of their representatives to the final of Karate 1-Series A Santiago. Joaquin Gonzalez Lavin took the flag of the organising nation to the last day of competition after succeeding in Male Kumite -75kg. The young Chilean karateka surprised with his 2-1 triumph of semi-finals over Hernani Verissimo of Brazil to make it to his first final since his victory at the 2018 Pan American championships. The other side of the tatami on Sunday will be taken by one of the favourites of the category, Stanislav Horuna of Ukraine. The winner of the European Games and fourth in WKF World ranking qualified for the final after a thrilling semi-final bout against Yassine Sekouri of Morocco 5-4.  

Front-runners also succeeded in day 2 of Karate 1-Series A Santiago. WKF World ranking leader Elena Quirici of Switzerland made it to the final of Female Kumite -68kg after defeating Italy’s Silvia Semeraro in semi-finals 3-0. It will be the seventh medal in eight events this year for the current European Championships runner-up from Switzerland. Her rival in the final is Li Gong of China who has the silver medal at home in Karate 1-Premier League Shanghai as her best result this season. The Chinese competitor who is placed in 15th position in WKF World ranking beat Japan’s Kayo Someya in semi-finals 3-0. 

As it happened in the final of Female Kata, the title-deciding bout of Male Team Kata will see Italy facing Japan for the title. The Karate 1-Series A Santiago will conclude on Sunday with all the medal bouts of the closing event of the season of Karate 1-Series A.