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Surprising results in day 1 of Karate 1 Premier League Salzburg

2020-02-28

Surprising results in day 1 of Karate 1 Premier League Salzburg

The 2020 Karate 1-Premier League Salzburg started today in Sporthalle Alpenstrasse sports hall with surprises taking over the competition. Newcomers were the big heroes today as they stunned favourites in day 1 of the third stop of the season of Karate’s biggest international events. 

The 2020 Karate 1-Premier League Salzburg started today in Sporthalle Alpenstrasse sports hall with surprises taking over the competition. Newcomers were the big heroes today as they stunned favourites in day 1 of the third stop of the season of Karate’s biggest international events.

KOKUMAI VS SANCHEZ, PART TWO

The final of Female Kata will have the same two competitors who clashed for the gold medal in the Karate 1-Premier League Dubai two weeks ago. Sakura Kokumai of the USA and Sandra Sanchez of Spain qualified for the title-deciding bout of Female Kata in Salzburg after dominating all the previous rounds of the competition. It will be the second final starring Sanchez and Kokumai in less than a month.



Grand Winner Sandra Sanchez topped her pool with “Papuren” kata and a score of 26.0 while Sakura Kokumai dominated her pool also with “Papuren” kata and a score of 26.14. In the final in Dubai, Sanchez won the title with a score of 27.54 for 25.82 for Kokumai.

ANGELO CRESCENZO FACES EMIL PAVLOV IN MALE KUMITE -60KG

After winning the title in Dubai, Angelo Crescenzo of Italy qualified again for the final of a major international event thus showcasing excellent form. The current World champion prevailed in the competition following a forceful demonstration of abilities and a 5-1 triumph over Eray Samdan of Turkey in semi-finals.

The current World title-holder from Italy will fight for the crown against Emil Pavlov of North Macedonia. Pavlov surprised favourites to make it to his first final in nearly a year. The winner of the 2019 Karate 1-Premier League Moscow shocked front-runner and current Grand Winner Darkhan Assadilov of Kazakhstan in semi-finals 2-1 to reach the final phase of the competition.



NADIA GOMEZ MORALES DOES IT AGAIN

Following a striking performance in Dubai, 21-year-old newcomer Nadia Gomez Morales of Spain caused a sensation again in Karate’s first-class event as she qualified for the final of the tournament. The 2017 U21 World champion upset front-runners such as Grand Winner Serap Ozcelik Arapoglu, European champion Sophia Bouderbane and AKF bronze medallist Li Ranran to reach her second final in two events. Gomez Morales claimed a conclusive 8-4 victory in semi-finals over local hopeful Bettina Plank.

The other side of the tatami in the final will be taken by Miho Miyahara of Japan. The current World champion went back to winning ways and reached a title-deciding bout again after taking silver in Paris. The World title-holder upset France’s two-time World champion Alexandra Recchia in semi-finals 6-2.



DAY OF COME-BACKS IN SALZBURG

The final of Female Kumite -55kg will see a true clash of titans as two of the most followed competitors of the category will fight for the title in Salzburg. Both Jana Messerschmidt of Germany and Sara Cardin of Italy put an end to a long hiatus away from the top of the podium thus producing the big come-back of the day. Jana Messerschmidt who is the current World Championships runner-up fought for gold of a Karate 1-Premier League for the last time in 2018 in Dubai. Here in Salzburg, Messerschmidt edged Tzu-Yun Wen of Chinese Taipei in semi-finals 2-1 to qualify for the final.

Meanwhile, Sara Cardin reached her first final of Karate 1-Premier League since winning the gold medal at the 2018 Karate 1-Premier League Istanbul and aims at her second medal this year after claiming silver at the Karate 1-Series A Santiago. The former World champion defeated team-mate Veronica Brunori in semi-finals 4-0.




Stanislav Horuna
of Ukraine also produced a remarkable come-back in Male Kumite -75kg. The former Grand Winner had been away from the top of the podium of Karate 1-Premier League since his victory at the event in Rabat last year. The current European Games winner beat Gabor Harspataki Karoly of Hungary in semi-finals 4-1 and will meet World champion Bahman Asgari Ghoncheh of Iran in the final. The Iranian World title-holder edged Erman Eltemur of Turkey in semi-finals 4-4 and qualified to win his third medal in three events this year.

The final Luca Maresca (ITA) against Rafiz Hasanov (AZE) in Male Kumite -67kg and the clash Italy vs Turkey in Male Team Kata completed the list of title-deciding bouts of the day.

The competition continues on Saturday with the rest of the categories at stake. CLICK HERE to go to all the info on the event including results and competition programme.