Up-and-coming karatekas from all over the world are showing their abilities and the impact of Karate in young ages as the 2018 FISU World University Karate Championships started in Kobe (Japan). The first day of competition was determined by the pre-eminence of local karatekas. 

Up-and-coming karatekas from all over the world started showing their abilities and the impact of Karate in young ages in the 2018 FISU World University Karate Championships. The first day of competition of the event being held in Kobe (Japan) was determined by the pre-eminence of local karatekas. 

The representatives of the host country continued dominating the Kata competition as Japan will have representation in all the finals of the categories of choreographed movements. Natsuki Shimizu confirmed her front-runner status with her qualification to the final of Female Kata while Yuhei Horiba reached the title-deciding bout in Male Kata. Their rivals for gold will be 2017 Grand Winner Terryana D’Onofrio of Italy and surprising Abolfazl Shahrjerdi of Iran respectively. 

The Japanese success continued in Kumite since Miho Miyahara, Haname Katayama and Soichiro Nakano demonstrated excellent form to reach the finals of their categories. In Female Kumite -50kg Miho Miyahara extended her successful season, and after victories in Karate 1-Premier League in Rabat and Paris and Karate 1-Series A Guadalajara this year, the promising Japanese ace will fight for gold against Shiau-Shuang Gu of Chinese Taipei. 

Meanwhile, Haname Katayama prevailed in Female Kumite -50kg and made it to the final after claiming a tally of 13-3 in three bouts. The young Japanese karateka will fight for her first gold in international events against Iran’s Avishan Bagheri. 

Soichiro Nakano completed the list of finalists for hosts with his qualification to the final bout in Male Kumite -67kg. The current Asian U21 champion will clash for the title against Francesco Donofrio of Italy. 

In the only category without Japanese representation, Eray Samdan of Turkey continues demonstrating his status as one of the most promising karatekas in the world. After taking no less than four medals this year (golds in Karate 1-Premier League Rotterdam and Dubai, and in the European U21 Championships and silver medal in Karate 1-Premier League Istanbul), the Turkish shining star dominated the Male Kumite -60kg category with a tally of 11-3 in three bouts. His rival in the final will be Saudi Arabia’s Saud Albasher. 

The competition will continue on Friday. All the action from Kobe will be streamed LIVE. You can have access to the live streaming of the tournament from the 2018 FISU World University Karate Championships sub-section on wkf.net HERE

(Pictures: Naomichi Matsushita / AKF)