French heroes Alexandra Recchia and Steven Da Costa took the spotlight in the first day of competition of Karate 1-Premier League Paris Open. The first big event of the season started on Friday, and the best karatekas in the world showcased their impressive abilities in a day full of surprises and full of first-class Karate action. 

French heroes Alexandra Recchia and Steven Da Costa took the spotlight on the first day of competition of Karate 1-Premier League Paris Open. The first big event of the season started on Friday, and the best karatekas in the world showcased their impressive abilities in a day full of surprises and with plenty of first-class Karate action. 

World champion Alexandra Recchia presented an impressive performance at home, and qualified for the final of Female Kumite -50kg. The French Karate Star showed resilience and endured a gruesome cut in the face to convincingly win all her four bouts of the day. The 29-year-old athlete took the top of the pool after finishing the three bouts with a total tally of 10-0. In semifinals, the French idol defeated Shara Hubrich of Germany by an impressive 5-0. 

Steven Da Costa confirmed his status of one of the most promising karatekas in the world. The athlete who just turned 21-years-old qualified to his first final in three appearances in Karate 1-Premier League in Paris in a spectacular competition. The champion of The World Games 2017 brushed through the pool round taking no less than 25 points in three bouts, by 0 points of their rivals. The younger of the Da Costa brothers defeated Luca Maresca of Italy in semifinals by 3-0 and will fight for his first gold in Paris in front of family and friends. 

Brazil's Douglas Brose with his forceful qualification for the final of Male Kumite -60kg to clash against Darkhan Assadilov of Kazakhstan, and the quest to the final in Female Kumite -55kg with Syakilla Salni Jefry Krishnan of Malaysia and France's Sabrina Ouihaddadene fighting for gold were other of the highlights of the day.

Karate Superstar Rafael Aghayev of Azerbaijan demonstrated his recovery after his injuries in the final part of last season and made it to the title-deciding bout of Male Kumite -75kg. His rival in the final will be Japan's Ken Nishimura who surprised with his victory over Grand Winner Stanislav Horuna in the pool round.

JAPAN DOMINATE KATA COMPETITION

Japan continued dominating the Kata competition. The final of Female Kata will be an-all Japan contest as World champion Kiyou Shimizu will meet Emiri Iwamoto for gold. The current world title-holder prevailed and won all her bouts by 5-0, with the exception of the 3-2 victory over Hong Kong’s Grace Lau Mo Sheung. Meanwhile, Emiri Iwamoto will try to dethrone the two-time world champion in the final after winning three of her bouts by 5-0 and two clashes by 4-1. 

The birth-nation of the sport will also have presence in the finals of Female Kumite -50kg and Male Kumite -67kg. In a double France-Japan confrontation, Miho Miyahara will face Alexandra Recchia, and Hiroto Shinohara will clash against Steven Da Costa. 

GRAND WINNERS STRUGGLE IN PARIS 

It wasn’t a happy day for the current Grand Winners. In the day that the Grand Winners wore for the first time the new commemorative karate-gis with the gold embroidery, none of the current title-holders of the best of the best of the 2017 Karate 1-Premier League made it the finals. 

Sandra Sanchez of Spain will clash for the third place in Female Kata, just as Sadriddin Saymatov of Uzbekistan in Male Kumite -60kg. Stanislav Horuna of Ukraine recovered from a pool round defeat to qualify for the third place-bout in Male Kumite -75kg. Meanwhile, Ukraine's Anzhelika Terliuga will take the spotlight on Sunday with one of the highlights of the day as the Grand Winner will fight for the third place against Karate Star Sara Cardin of Italy. Grand Winner Serap Ozcelik of Turkey suffered an early elimination in Female Kumite -50kg. 

Action will continue on Saturday with the second day of competition of the thrilling Karate 1-Premier League Paris Open. The final day will be available to a worldwide viewing audience on karateworld.tv and on many TV Networks around the world. 

For a full list of TV Networks and countries CLICK HERE and select your country to see where you can watch the Karate 1-Premier League in Paris. 

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