Karate counting the days to anticipated World Combat Games
10/5/2023
Multisport events
The Karate competition of the 2023 World Combat Games starts in two weeks! The Karate community is counting the days to the debut of the sport in the anticipated multidiscipline massive event.
Scheduled for October 20 and 21, the Karate tournament at the World Combat Games is set to cause a sensation at the event to be held in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia). The competition is limited to U21 athletes thus the most promising karatekas in the world will be fighting for the medals at the Saudi capital.
Karate has been part of the programme of the World Combat Games since its inception in 2010. Many memorable moments cached the attention of fans in these two previous editions.
ENES ERKAN AND JELENA KOVACEVIC TRIUMPHED IN 2010 WORLD COMBAT GAMES
The first edition of the World Combat Games was held in Beijing (China) in 2010. With Kumite divisions in the programme, the delegations of Croatia, Turkiye and France were the big winners of the Karate competition.
Turkiye’s Enes Erkan reached his status as star of the sport in Beijing as he claimed the gold medal in the Male Kumite -84kg category. It was one of the biggest successes of the Turkish star who went to win two world titles and two continental crowns.
Danil Domdjoni opened the gold medal count for Croatia with his triumph in Male Kumite -60kg, while Ibrahim Gary helped put France on top of the medal table with his victory in Male Kumite +84kg. Nizayi Aliyev of Azerbaijan in Male Kumite -67kg and Saeid Farrokhi of Iran in Male Kumite -75kg completed the list of gold medallists in Male Kumite divisions.
Jelena Kovacevic of Croatia added the title in Female Kumite -55kg to her list of honours that include two continental crowns and two World Championships medals. The Croatian karateka beat Stella Urango of Colombia in the final.
Turkish and French delegations prevailed at the event with victories of Gulderen Celik in Female Kumite -50kg and Tiffany Fanjat in Female Kumite -68kg, respectively. Boutheina Hasnaoui of Tunisia in Female Kumite -61kg and Shymaa Mohamed of Egypt in Female Kumite +68kg completed the list of gold medallists in Female divisions.
FRANCE DOMINATE 2013 WORLD COMBAT GAMES
The second edition of the World Combat Games took place in Saint Petersburg (Russia) in October 2013. The French delegation prevailed at the event with four medals including two golds, followed by Azerbaijan and Japan.
Antonio Diaz of Venezuela became one of the biggest stars of the sport as he claimed the title of Male Kata. The two-time World champion and legend defeated Ryo Kiyuna of Japan in the final. The title in Female Kata was taken by Sandy Scordo who upset Spain’s Yaiza Martin Abello.
In Male Kumite divisions, the highlight was the final of Male Kumite -75kg. Two of the greatest legends of the sport, Rafael Aghayev of Azerbaijan and Luigi Busa of Italy clashed for the title with the gold going to five-time World champion Aghayev.
Russia’s Magomedraul Murtazaliev used the home ground factor in his favour to win gold in Male Kumite -60kg while Kenji Grillon added one more title for France with his triumph in Male Kumite -84kg. Saeid Ahmadi of Iran in Male Kumite -67kg and Shahin Atamov of Azerbaijan in Male Kumite +84kg also triumphed in Saint Petersburg.
The biggest winners in Female Kumite were Serap Ozcelik of Turkiye and Miki Kobayashi of Japan. Ozcelik won gold in Female Kumite -50kg thus completing an awarded-filled career of 14 gold medals in Karate 1-Premier League, 6 continental championships, and one World Championships title.
Meanwhile, Miki Kobayashi triumphed in Female Kumite -55kg. The Japanese karateka had won the World crown three years earlier in Belgrade. Mexico’s Merillela Arreola Ferrreyra in Female Kumite -61kg, Fatma Alzahraa Mahmoud of Egypt in Female Kumite -68kg and Masa Martinovic of Croatia in Female Kumite +68kg were the winners in Female Kumite divisions.
