Gabor Harspataki: The moment of gold for Hungary is now

The Hungarian star produced one of the most spectacular performances of the day to make it to the final at home, much to the celebration of a roaring crowd attending day 2 of #KarateBudapest2023 at Papp Laszlo Sports Arena.  

“I feel amazing. Everything was great in the tatami and all the fights. I am speechless, and I can’t describe now how I feel for the support I have received from the stands, the team, my coach, the federation and my clubs,” said Harspataki after reaching the final stage of the event.

Backed by a full crowd, Harspataki started his performance at the event with a tight victory by “Senshuu” or first unopposed point over Elhami Shabani of Kosovo (5-5). In the second round, the Hungarian star defeated Enzo Berthon of France 4-1 to take an impressive 7-1 triumph over Kuvonchbek Mukhammadiyev of Uzbekistan.

In the following stages of the pool round, Harspataki edged Lorenzo Pietromarchi of Italy 2-1 and Ernest Sharafutdinov of the Individual Neutral Athletes 3-0.

In the semifinals, Harspataki used the home ground factor in his favour to defeat Hamza Turulja of Bosnia and Herzegovina 3-0 and qualify for his first World Championships final.   

“We are in the final, so we are very happy. I have never won a gold medal in the World Championships, not me, not Hungary so we feel that our moment (to win gold) is now,” the local hero added.

A 27-year-old karateka, Harspataki took the star status in his country when he won the bronze medal at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. Before his success in Tokyo, the Hungarian karateka had the silver at the 2018 European Championships and gold at the 2015 Karate 1-Premier League Coburg as best results.   

“Keep supporting us and let’s go, Hungary!” Harspataki said.

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