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Thrilling finishing touch to Karate 1-Premier League season in Okinawa

2016-09-29

Thrilling finishing touch to Karate 1-Premier League season in Okinawa

After a spectacular season, the Karate 1-Premier League comes to an end this weekend with the last event of the year to be held in Okinawa (Japan) The mythical place of origin of this ancient discipline will act as sensational stage to two thrilling days of tournament to put the golden year to the best Karate competition.

After a spectacular season, the Karate 1-Premier League comes to an end this weekend with the last event of the year to be held in Okinawa (Japan). The mythical place of origin of the ancient discipline will act as sensational stage to two thrilling days of tournament aiming to put the golden finishing touch to a year of the best Karate competition.

Karatekas from over 30 countries have travelled to the island where Karate was born in order to take the last opportunity to shine and to clash for gold in the first-class event of the sport. After nine outstanding tournaments celebrated throughout ten months and in four continents, the last champions of Karate 1-Premier League will be crowned this weekend in the iconic Japanese city.

Italian Star Sara Cardin leads the list of top athletes to imbue the spirit of ancient Karate in their quest to gold in Okinawa. The current World and European champion acts as top favourite in the Female Kumite -55kg category, as the world ranking leader hopes to bounce back from failing to qualify for the finals last weekend in the Karate 1-Premier League in Hamburg. As the World Championships are one month away, the brave Italian competes for her first gold of the season in Karate 1-Premier League.

Acting as one of the big names in Okinawa, Ingrida Suchankova of Slovakia aims to win her third gold medal of the year in the top Karate events, following her victories in Fortaleza and Rabat in Female Kumite -61kg. The Slovak ace will find the opposition of local promising Karateka and current World Junior, Cadet and U21 Championships silver medallist Ayami Moriguchi, among others.

Japanese Karatekas hope to prevail at home

In Men’s competition, the Male Kata tournament will present one of the highlights of the exciting competition, as Japanese domination in the category will be at stake for the resistance of top competitors from Saudi Arabia, India, United States and Iran, among many other. Karate fans and local enthusiasts will have the opportunity to follow one of the leading names in the discipline: Japan’s Ryo Kiyuna. The defending World champion, in his intention to renovate the crown in less than a month in Linz (Austria), will showcase his abilities in his second appearance of the season following his gold medal in Paris (France). While Kiyuna has the favourite tab in the tournament, nearly 80 athletes in the category will try to shock in a disputed competition.   

The event in Okinawa will also represent a momentous occasion to confirm the impressive rise of talented and up-and-coming top competitors. That will be the case of World Junior, Cadet and U21 Championships gold medallist Tareg Hamedi of Saudi Arabia in Male Kumite 84+ kg and local emerging heroes Ugai Mizuki in Female Kata and Soichiro Nakano bronze in Male Kumite -68 kg.

As in previous editions, Japan will try to showcase a powerful display of domination at home ground, as the large representation of the host country traditionally impresses in its own country. Last year local Karatekas finished the event in Okinawa with an imposing tally of 26 medals and nine golds.

Click here for more information on the Karate 1-Premier League in Okinawa.