The new World champions in Male Kumite are Mehdi Filali of France, Youssef Badawy of Egypt, Abdalla Abdelaziz of Egypt, Steven Dacosta of France, Christos-Stephanos Xenos of Greece.

The medal bouts in Male Kumite of the 2023 World Karate Championships being held in Budapest (Hungary) were a celebration of offensive Karate.

In Male Kumite +84kg, Mehdi Filali of France became the new World Champion after producing a forceful performance in the final of the category. Finalist Taha Tarek Mahmoud of Egypt tried to control Filali’s efficiency, but the current European champion claimed the title with a “Yuko” or one-point technique and a “Waza-Ari” or two-point technique to win the bout 3-1.

This victory represents Filali’s first world crown and France’s first gold in the heaviest category since Alain Le Htet’s triumph at the 1994 World Championships.

DOUBLE WORLD CROWN FOR YOUSSEF BADAWY

Youssef Badawy of Egypt claimed the star status in the Male Kumite categories as he retained the title of Male Kumite -84kg. The defending world title holder proved too strong and defeated Mahdi Khodabakhshi of Iran 9-2.

The Egyptian karateka gave a tremendous showcase of offensive abilities to score point after point. With this victory, Badawy adds the double World crown to his two continental titles and five golds in the Karate 1-Premier League.

ABDALLA ABDELAZIZ UPSETS LOCAL HERO GABOR HARSPATAKI

Egypt’s Abdalla Abdelaziz caused the big upset of the day as he defeated local hero and Hungary’s main hopeful Gabor Harspataki. The clash of Olympians for the title of Male Kumite -75kg went to the current silver medallist in a hard-gripping bout.

Abdelaziz took the lead in the clash and Harspataki bounced back trying to recover the distance. However, the Egyptian karateka kept the advantage and won the final by a slim 3-2.

STEVEN DACOSTA DOES IT AGAIN

Extending his outstanding career even more, Steven Dacosta of France kept the title of Male Kumite -67kg. In a clash full of drama, the current World, continental and Olympic champion defeated Nenad Dulovic of Montenegro to perpetuate his domination of the category.

Dacosta took the lead through a combination of offensive actions, but Dulovic presented a strong opposition to keep the bout in the air. Despite Dulovic’s attempts, Dacosta maintained the lead to win his third consecutive World crown 5-3.

CHRISTOS-STEPHANOS XENOS DOMINATES MALE KUMITE -60KG

The category of Male Kumite -60kg has a new champion in Greece’s Christos-Stephanos Xenos. The Greek karateka produced a convincing 7-1 victory over Kazakhstan’s Kaisar Alpysbay.

The current continental runner-up from Greece demonstrated more resilience to dominate the clash from beginning to end thus claiming his best success to date. Xenos’ triumph is Greece’s fourth gold medal in the history of the competition.  

EGYPT AND SPAIN PREVAIL IN MALE PARA-KARATE CATEGORIES

The Para-Karate competition in Male divisions today was dominated by representatives of powerhouse nations of Egypt and Spain.  

Carlos Huertas of Spain became one of the heroes of the day in Para-Karate as the Spaniard claimed his second consecutive World title in Intellectually Impaired Male K21. The current world and continental titleholder defeated Germany’s Albert Singer with scores of 41.4 to 39.5.

In Intellectually Impaired Male K22 the crown was claimed by Ahmed Elbeltagy of Egypt who defeated Mattia Alessina of Italy in the final with scores of 38.8 to 36.7. Elbeltagy was the current champion and keeps the World title.

2023 WORLD SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS