Top favourites confirmed their status in the first day of competition of the Karate 1-Premier League in Dubai, as Karate Stars progressed to the Finals of the tournament. Intense moments of outstanding Katas and electrifying Kumites were showcased in the opening day of the fourth event of the 2016 Karate 1-Premier League being held this weekend in the Emirate city.

Top favourites confirmed their status in the first day of competition of the Karate 1-Premier League in Dubai, as Karate Stars progressed to the Final stages of the tournament. Intense moments of outstanding Katas and electrifying Kumites were showcased in the opening day of the fourth event of the 2016 Karate 1-Premier League being held this weekend in the Emirate city.

In his debut in Karate 1-Premier League tournaments this season, Azerbaijan’s hero Rafael Aghayev cruised to the final phase of Kumite -75kg category following a demonstration of superiority in his four clashes of the day. The current European champion will try to win his first gold medal in Karate 1-Premier League competitions in three years. The Kumite -75kg category presented one of the many shocks of the day, as the current second place holder of the world ranking Italian Luigi Busa suffered an early defeat against Turkey’s Erman Eltemur.

The confirmation of the high level of competition was also stated in the Kumite +84kg category. World ranking leader and current world champion Turkey’s Enes Erkan could not reach the finals of his category after being upset by Azerbaijan’s Shahin Atamov. The Turkish Karate Star managed to recover and finished the tournament with a Bronze medal, thus extending his tally of six consecutive medals in Karate 1- Premier League tournaments.

Following his victory in Karate 1-Premier League in Rotterdam last month, Spain’s Damian Quintero stated his condition of candidate for gold with a victorious performance in the first day and made it to the final round of Male Kata. The European champion and fan favourite beat World runner-up Germany’s Ilja Smorguner to reach the pool winner phase as the European champion seeks his fourth gold medal in Karate 1-Premier League competitions.

In Female Kata category Spain’s Sandra Sanchez will try to extend her condition of world ranking leader, while in Female Kumite -55 Kg category Karate Star Italy’s Sara Cardin seeks the top of the podium of Karate 1-Premier League events for the first time this season. The clashes in Female Kumite -50 Kg and in Female Kumite 68+ Kg categories, as well as the always thrilling Team Kata categories will be some of the many attention-grabber moments to be staged on Sunday. 

After the first day of competition, Russia, Turkey, Germany, Malaysia and Egypt take the first positions of the standings, as all of them earned two Bronze medals.

The Finals of the thrilling Karate 1-Premier League in Dubai are scheduled to begin at 10:30 GMT and will be streamed live in WKF’s YouTube channel.

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