JAPAN TOPPED AT THE 25TH EDITION OF THE KARATE WORLD SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS, HELD IN DUBAI; KARATE INDIA ORGANISATION (KIO) GETS PERMANENT AFFILIATION STATUS.

JAPAN TOPPED AT THE 25TH EDITION OF THE KARATE WORLD SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS, HELD IN DUBAI; KARATE INDIA ORGANISATION (KIO) GETS PERMANENT AFFILIATION STATUS by Dipak Kumar Shaw

It was a mixture of emotion and tough competitiveness showcased by the senior karatekas from all over the world at the 25th Karate World Senior Championships which was recently held in Dubai from 16th to 21st November 2021, with Japan topping the medal tally with seven medals, which includes four Gold medals. Egypt and Spain finished second and third respectively. Over 1000 athletes from 198 countries showed their prowess in this grand event.

The six-day extravaganza in Dubai, which is termed to be the “epitome” of all event for any karateka all over the globe, saw some amazing performances, which included Olympic champions. Japan, known to be the world class performers in Kata, kept to their reputation by winning Gold medals in both Male and Female Team Kata (defeating Spain in both categories) along with the Individual Male Kata, which was grabbed by the Tokyo Olympic 2020 Gold medallist, Ryo Kiyuna. Damian Quintero of Spain finished second in that category. Sandra Sanchez of Spain won the Gold medal in Individual Female Kata by defeating her Japanese counterpart Hikaru Ono of Japan, and proved once again why she deserve to be called the “Queen of Kata” after her Gold medal winning performance at the Tokyo Olympics 2020.

Italy defeated Serbia and Egypt defeated France, to win the top position in Male and Female Team Kumite competition respectively.

Miho Mihara (Japan), Ahlam Youseef (Egypt), Jovana Prekovic (Serbia), Irina Zaretska (Azerbaijan) and Maria Torres (Spain) won the Gold medals in various categories of Female Individual Kumite.

Douglas Brose (Brazil), Steven Dacosta (France), Dastonbek Otabolaev (Uzbekistan), Youseef Badawy (Egypt) and Gogita Arkania (Georgia) won the Gold medals in various categories of Male Individual Kumite.

The Para-Karate competitions were also conducted, where over 80 athletes from 21 countries showed the world their grit and determination, to compete in the big stage. They not only made their physical disadvantages into their advantages, but also put on some mind-blowing performances. Egypt topped the medal tally of the Para-Karate World Championships, by grabbing three Gold medals.

This World Championship marked a new and glorious days in the making for the Karate India Organisation (KIO), where they were granted the “permanent affiliation status” of World Karate Federation (WKF), becoming the only authentic National Federation for the game of Karate – Do in India. This decision was taken in the WKF Congress held on 15th November 2021. It was for the first time in the history of Indian karate that, one Kumite player (Pranay Sharma) reached the third round, two players (Gaurav Sindhya and Sudhir Sehrawat) reached the second round and two Kata players (Priyanka Rami and Arka Banerjee) reached the second round. Three Referees (Hanshi Premjit Sen – Referee A & Judge A, Sensei Kalis Chezhian – Referee B and Sensei Shaji S. Kottaram – Judge A) passed their WKF Referee & Judges Examination in this event. Sensei Mutum Bankim Singh, Sensei Soibam Bindeshori Chanu and Sensei Bharat Yadav passed their respective WKF Certified Coaches Licence exam.

The 26th WKF Karate World Championship will be held in Budapest (Hungary) in 2023.