The World Karate Federation presented the new edition of its flagship event, the Karate 1-Premier League. Karate’s first-class series of international tournaments endeavours to extend the success of top competitions of the sport after a memorable year as Karate continues getting ready to make its debut in the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. 

The World Karate Federation presented the new edition of its flagship event, the Karate 1-Premier League. Karate’s first-class series of international tournaments endeavours to extend the success of top competitions of the sport after a memorable year as Karate continues getting ready to make its debut in the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. 

“The tremendous progress of Karate competitions is not only reflected in the growing popularity of our events; the rising interest among TV networks around the world, the increasing number of countries that are being represented in the tournaments, and the booming revenue that remains in the host cities support the success of our actions,” declared WKF President Antonio Espinós. 

The 2019 Karate 1-Premier League will begin in January in Paris (France), in one of Karate’s signature events. The competition will move to Dubai (UAE) in February while Rabat (Morocco) will continue being one of the highlights of the year with the tournament scheduled for April. 

After the highly successful Karate 1-Series A event this year, Shanghai (China) will host the anticipated fourth stop of the season. Then, Karate will once again display its tremendous popularity in Japan with a new edition of the Karate 1-Premier League Tokyo. 

Two new host cities in two countries where Karate is extremely popular will wrap up the 2019 Karate 1-Premier League. Moscow in Russia will receive another big Karate event in October 2019 to celebrate the fascination for Karate in the powerhouse nation of the sport, while Madrid in Spain will act as the venue of the closing tournament of the 2019 Karate 1-Premier League in November. 

In addition to new markets and bigger venues, the 2019 Karate 1-Premier League will introduce a modern and unified delivery of the events. Aiming to further increase the impact of the sport among its growing audience, all the tournaments of the 2019 Karate 1-Premier League will present a spectacular and updated competition lay-out. 

Ultimately, the 2019 Karate 1-Premier League is the stage where the best karatekas in the world will meet. With the quest to earn the points to qualify for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 intensifying, the stars of the sport need to succeed in the seven tournaments next year to make their Olympic dreams come true. 

“Since the Karate 1-Premier League is one of the competitions that attributes a higher number of points to the Olympic standings, we will experience unique sporting moments on the tatamis. I am sure that the seven Karate 1-Premier League in 2019 will be simply unforgettable,” added WKF President Antonio Espinós. 

2019 Karate 1-Premier League Calendar

January 25-27: Karate 1-Premier League Paris (France)
February 15-17: Karate 1-Premier League Dubai (UAE)
April 19-21: Karate 1-Premier League Rabat (Morocco)
June 7-9: Karate 1-Premier League Shanghai (China)
September 6-8: Karate 1-Premier League Tokyo (Japan)
October 4-6: Karate 1-Premier League Moscow (Russia)
November 29-December 1: Karate 1-Premier League Madrid (Spain)