With less than 330 days to Karate’s Olympic debut in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, the capital of Japan hosts one of the biggest events of the year in exactly one week. From September 6 to 8, the best karatekas in the world will be in Tokyo to demonstrate Karate’s excellence in the anticipated Karate 1-Premier League. 

With less than 330 days to Karate’s Olympic debut in the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, the capital of Japan hosts one of the biggest events of the year in exactly one week. From September 6 to 8, the best karatekas in the world will be in Tokyo to demonstrate Karate’s excellence in the anticipated Karate 1-Premier League. 

The fifth stop of Karate’s biggest series of international events will be a historic moment for the discipline. Not only Karate goes back to its birthplace; the sport celebrates its biggest event in Japan before making its Olympic debut in the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. The tournament will take place in the majestic “Nippon Budokan” sports hall, the same venue of Karate’s Olympic presentation in less than a year. 

Over 600 competitors from no less than 79 countries have confirmed their participation in the event. While karatekas strive to win the points to earn the qualification for Tokyo 2020, the best athletes of the discipline will have the opportunity to catch a glimpse of Olympic Karate next weekend. 

Expectations are going through the roof; nearly 200 journalists from all over the world will be covering the three-day event. The tournament is scheduled to start on Friday, September 6 with the elimination rounds of the first categories at stake. The previous rounds will continue on Saturday, September 7, and the finals will be held on Sunday, September 8. 

The outstanding level of competition will be guaranteed since all the 12 Grand Winners will participate in the event, including four-time 2019 Karate 1-Premier League winner Serap Ozcelik of Turkey, two-time 2019 Karate 1-Premier League gold medallist Sandra Sanchez of Spain, and four-time 2019 Karate 1-Premier League Ryo Kiyuna among others. All the 12 current World Champions have also registered to be part of the historic tournament. 

Tokyo hosted a Karate 1-Premier League for the last time in October 2018. Japanese karatekas prevailed at last season’s closing event with an impressive tally of 24 medals including seven golds. French and Turkish representatives also registered deserving performance with three gold medals respectively. 

CLICK HERE to go to all the info of the 2019 Karate 1-Premier League Tokyo.