Karate fans will find plenty of options to cheer for their favourite idols at the upcoming Karate 1-Premier League Berlin. A full list of Karate Stars and heroes of the sport have confirmed their participation in the second to last tournament of Karate’s biggest series of international events. 

Karate fans will find plenty of opportunities to cheer for their favourite idols at the upcoming Karate 1-Premier League Berlin. A full list of Karate Stars and heroes of the sport have confirmed their participation in the second to last tournament of Karate’s first-class series of international events. 

Nearly 800 competitors from 72 countries will gather in Berlin (Germany) for one of the most anticipated events of the season. As the Olympic qualification process for Tokyo 2020 begun in July, and as the 2018 edition of the Karate 1-Premier League is heading to its thrilling conclusion, the biggest names of the sport aim at showing their domination of the sport at Karate's top competitions. 

All but one of the defending Grand Winners have confirmed their participation at the Karate 1-Premier League in Berlin. Grand Winners and current WKF World Ranking leaders Sandra Sanchez of Spain in Female Kata, Xiaoyan Yin of China in Female Kumite -61kg, Ayumi Uekusa of Japan in Female Kumite +68kg, Sadriddin Saymatov of Uzbekistan in Male Kumite -60kg and Ryutaro Araga of Japan in Male Kumite -84kg will try to extend their prevalence on the tatamis in Berlin.

As the quest to become the new Grand Winners intensifies, the current owners of the “Best of the best” award who are also leading the standings of the 2018 Karate 1-Premier League hope to get the victories in order to be crowned the greatest karateka in this year’s edition of the event. This is the case of Serap Ozcelik of Turkey in Female Kumite -50kg, and Sandra Sanchez and Xiaoyan Yin, who are also heading the Karate 1-Premier League standings in their categories. 

Damian Quintero of Spain in Male Kata, Stanislav Horuna of Ukraine in Male Kumite -75kg, Sajad Ganjzadeh of Iran in Male Kumite +84kg, Anzhelika Terliuga of Ukraine in Female Kumite -55kg and Irina Zaretska of Azerbaijan in Female Kumite -68kg complete the list of Grand Winners competing in Berlin. 

ALL 12 WORLD CHAMPIONS PARTICIPATING IN BERLIN 

The sixth event of the 2018 Karate 1-Premier League will also be an opportunity to watch all twelve defending World champions in action. Japan’s Ryo Kiyuna and Kiyou Shimizu in Male and Female Kata aim at extending the domination of the birth nation of the sport in the category of choreographed movements. 

Five-time World champion and current WKF World ranking leader Rafael Aghayev of Azerbaijan will also capture the attention of fans, while World title-holder Alexandra Recchia of France returns to high-level competition after taking part in only four international events this year. Fresh off her victory in Kigali this past weekend at the 2018 UFAK Karate Championships, World champion Giana Lotfy hopes to take her first medal at Karate 1-Premier League this year.   

The 19 German karatekas competing for gold at home in Berlin hope to have the support of local fans in the quest to the top of the podium. The representation of the host country is headed by WKF World ranking leader Jonathan Horne. The five-time European champion who has taken three medals this year including gold at the Karate 1-Premier League Rotterdam hopes to use the home-ground factor in his favour in Berlin. The list of top-ranked German karatekas also has Shara Hubrich in Female Kumite -50kg (8th place), Jana Bitsch in Female Kumite -55kg (7th place9, Johanna Kneer in Female Kumite -68kg (9th place) and Ilja Smorguner in Male Kata (8th place) among others. 

The Karate 1-Premier League Berlin starts on Friday, September 14th and will conclude on Sunday, September 16th. Karate fans will have the opportunity to watch the medal bouts LIVE on karateworld.tv

The final day of action of the Karate 1-Premier League Berlin will be broadcast to a worldwide viewing audience on many TV Networks around the world and on KARATEWORLD.TV.

CLICK HERE to go to KarateWorld.TV.