The season of Karate 1-Premier League is coming to an end; Moscow (Russia) is hosting from October 4 to 6 the sixth stop of the 2019 Karate 1-Premier League where the new Grand Winners may be determined. 

The season of Karate 1-Premier League is coming to an end; Moscow (Russia) is hosting the sixth stop of the 2019 Karate 1-Premier League from October 4 to 6, an event where the new Grand Winners may be determined. 

After five events, first-class karatekas are travelling to Moscow to become the new Grand Winners. As the competition in the capital of Russia is the next-to-last event of the year in Karate 1-Premier League, the “Best of the Best” awards may be decide in the tournament to be held in less than ten days. Most categories are yet to be solved, so the quest to gold in Moscow will be thrilling. 

With all five titles being taken by two competitors, the crown in Female Kata appears to be a two-women show. Kiyou Shimizu of Japan and Sandra Sanchez of Spain aim at continuing their domination of the category thus far, with two titles for the current Grand Winner from Spain and three victories for Shimizu. 

Also showcasing outstanding control of the category, Serap Ozcelik of Turkey is the main favourite to keep the karategi with the golden embroidery. The current Grand Winner from Turkey has taken four golds in five events this season. The top contender in Female Kumite -55kg is Anzhelika Terliuga of Ukraine also with four golds in Karate 1-Premier League this year. The rest of the categories in Female Kumite have a host of candidates to take the Grand Winner award thus presenting great excitement in the quest to crown the top competitor of the year.  

FAVOURITES IN LEAD

In Male competition, Ryo Kiyuna of Japan is the front-runner to regain the Grand Winner award in Male kata since the current World champion has taken gold medals in all five tournaments this year. The favourite status in Male Kumite -60kg goes to Darkhan Assadilov of Kazakhstan who has won four titles this season. Ken Nishimura of Japan takes a slight lead in Male Kumite -75kg after his triumphs in Tokyo and Paris while current Grand Winner Ugur Aktas of Turkey is for the moment dominating Male Kumite -84kg with two titles. The rest of the categories are too close to call with top competitors aiming to get the points in Moscow to win the final crown. 

Nearly 700 karatekas from 85 countries are registered to participate in the Karate 1-Premier League Moscow. Thirty karatekas from the local country hope to take the flag of the organising country to the top of the podium, including top-ranked karatekas Evgeny Plakhutin (seventh in Male Kumite -60kg) or Victoria Isaeva (14th in Female Kumite -68kg) among others. 

The event is scheduled to start on Friday, October 4 at 09:00 (local time). The competition will continue on Saturday, and finals are set to be held on Sunday, October 6 from 14.30 to 16.40 (local time). All the medal bouts will be streamed LIVE on karateworld.tv.