Japan top medal table of memorable 2023 World Karate Championships

Japan continued dominating the Kata competition as the birth nation of the sport retained the World titles in both Male Kata Team and Female Kata Team competitions. 

For the fourth consecutive time, the crown of Male Team Kata travelled to Japan. The Japanese side defeated Turkiye in the final with scores of 46.9 to 46.1. Japan excelled in their presentation of “Unsu” kata to extend their prevalence in the category.

Japan also prevailed in Female Team Kata. The Japanese team defeated Italy in the final with scores of 44.3 to 47.1. The representatives of the birth nation of the sport produced an impressive performance on “Unsu” kata and claimed a convincing victory over the promising Italian team.

Japan’s triumph today keeps the crown of Female Team Kata in the birth nation of the sport for the fourth consecutive time while it helped the Japanese delegation to take the first position on the final podium.  

SPAIN TAKE FEMALE TEAM KUMITE TITLE IN THRILLING FINAL

The title-deciding bout of Female Team Kumite was a thrilling tour de force between the two best squads of the championships, Spain and Japan. The Spanish side took the title after winning in the last bout of the clash 2-1.

Spain took the first bout, but Japan bounced back a claimed the triumph in the second match by a convincing 10-2. In the third and final match, Japan took an early lead, but Spain recovered the disadvantage and in a fantastic performance, won the final clash.

The crown by the Spanish team represents the first World title for the Iberian nation in Female Team Kumite since their celebrated crown at home in 2002.

JORDAN WIN FIRST-EVER WORLD TITLE IN MALE TEAM KUMITE

Jordan made history for the sport as the Male Team Kumite claimed their first title in the category. The Jordan side defeated favourites of Egypt in a gripping final 14-10.

Egypt took the lead with a victory in the first bout, but Jordan recovered and won the two following matches. In the fourth clash, the bout ended in a draw, so the winner had to be decided in the final match. Recently crowned World Champion Abdalla Abdelaziz won the bout 3-1 but with two victories each, the winner was decided by a difference of points with the title finally going for Jordan.

INSPIRING PARA-KARATE CHAMPIONS CROWNED

The Para-Karatekas gave an inspiring demonstration of abilities in Budapest on the second day of finals of the categories for people with disabilities.

The final of Blind/Visually Impaired Male K10 was an all-Japan affair with Yasushi Soba and Toshihiro Imai going for gold. The crown was claimed by Toshihiro Imai who won gold in his first appearance at the event (42.2 to 40.6)

The crown of Blind/Visually Impaired Female K10 went to Azerbaijan as Emiliya Mitinova won her first world title after beating Veronika Kamenska of the Czech Republic with scores of 40.3 to 39.9.

The last category of the day was Wheelchair User. Egypt’s Abdelaziz Abouelnaga kept the world title after defeating Valerio Di Coco of Italy in the final of the male division. The impressive para-karateka from Egypt won the crown with scores of 45.1 to 43.5.

Also maintaining the world crown, Isabel Fernandez of Spain won her third consecutive world title in the Wheelchair User Female K30. The Spaniard defeated Knarik Airapetian of Ukraine in a fantastic demonstration of abilities.  

The memorable 2023 edition of Karate’s biggest event therefore concludes in Budapest. The most massive and spectacular World Championships in the history of the sport, #KarateBudapest2023 inaugurates a new era for Karate as World Championships are now split between Team and Individual tournaments.

Japan topped the final medal table of the event with a tally of six medals including four golds, followed by Egypt and Turkiye, with eight and five medals and two golds respectively.

The next edition of Karate’s biggest event will be held in Pamplona (Spain) where the first World Senior Team Championships will be held. The next Individual World Championships will take place in Cairo (Egypt) in 2025.

2023 WORLD SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS