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Promising karatekas show impressive skills in second day of Karate 1-Premier League in Paris

2018-12-27

Promising karatekas show impressive skills in second day of Karate 1-Premier League in Paris

The second day of action at the Karate 1-Premier League Paris Open crowned Karate stars in the making. It was the moment to shine for promising athletes, who stunned and eliminated top favourites in the thrilling quest to the finals. French Karate also had plenty to celebrate since XX of the representatives of the host country will be in the finals.  

The second day of action at the Karate 1-Premier League Paris Open crowned Karate stars in the making. It was the moment to shine for promising athletes, who stunned and eliminated top favourites in the thrilling quest to the finals. French Karate fans also had plenty of reasons to celebrate since five of the representatives of the host country will be in the finals.  

Grand Winner Xiaoyan Yin of China continued on top form. Following her outstanding career last season, the world ranking leader showed efficiency to be in the final of Female Kumite -61kg. The 24-years-old karateka dominated the pool with four victories by a total of 10-2 and defeated France’s Leila Heurtault by 1-0 to make it to the last day of competition. 

The Grand Winner will clash for gold against the karateka who produced the most impressive demonstration of Karate skills today. Gwendoline Philippe became the big star of the day at only 18 years old after her outstanding qualification to the final. The promising karateka finished on top of the pool with four victories and a total tally of 12-2. It was in semi-finals when defending U21 World champion really stunned Karate fans. In the bout against teammate and current World Championships silver medallist Lucie Ignace, Philippe managed to connect three sensational ippon, including one powerful mawashi-geri to close the bout with a magnificent 10-0 victory. 

 “I am so happy because I am so young and this is my first Paris Open. I had the chance to make the best of my Karate, and I did what I think that I am good at. I can’t believe that I will be on the final on Sunday!” said the 18-year-old karateka. “Lucie Ignace is such a wonderful competitor; since I was little I always looked up to her and when I was twelve years-old I saw her becoming world champion at Paris Bercy. It was great for me that I could win the bout against her like that,” added the Karate star in the making about her impressive victory in semi-finals. 

FRENCH DEMONSTRATION AT HOME

French Karate showcased the impressive level of its raising figures since some of the promising athletes of the organising country surprised front-runners with their qualification to the finals. In addition to Gwendoline Philippe, Nancy Garcia reached her first final in senior competitions after prevailing in Female Kumite +68kg. The 21-year-old 1st dan Shotokan karateka will face fellow teammate Nadege Ait-Ibrahim, who will try to improve her second place in Paris last year, in an all-French final. 

The host country will also have representation in the finals of the Male Kumite +84kg and in Female Kumite -68kg. In the biggest Male category, Mehdi Filali reached the last day of action at only 18 years old. His first appearance in a final will see the young local competitor facing Grand Winner Sajad Ganjzadeh of Iran. The current World champion confirmed his status of dominating force in the category and reached his first final since his triumph in Karate 1-Premier League in Dubai last year thus presenting a demonstration of his trademark offensive Karate. The winner in Karate 1-Premier League Paris last year hopes to repeat title after prevailing in his five bouts with a remarkable total tally of 23-4. 

Meanwhile, in Female Kumite -68kg, fan favourite Alize Agieer showed her strength at home and aims at her third gold in the Karate 1-Premier League in Paris. The 2014 World champion, after leading the pool with a total of 7-0 in three bouts, claimed a narrow victory over Spain’s Cristina Vizcaino 1-0 to be in the final. 

Her rival in the last day of competition will be Japan’s Kayo Someya. The Asian champion convincingly beat Denmark’s Katrine Pedersen by 5-0 to qualify for the final thus aiming to extend the ample medal count of the birth nation of the sport at the event. 

FAVOURITES AGAINST PROMISING KARATEKAS ALSO IN KATA AND IN MALE KUMITE

Ryo Kiyuna aims to extend Japan’s domination in Kata. The Japanese Kata ace presented a convincing performance to qualify for the final of the Male Kata category. The current world champion won all his bouts by unanimous decision and made it to his fourteenth consecutive final in international competitions. 

The top front-runner of the category is meeting in the final the big surprise of the tournament. Yi-Ta Wang of Chinese Taipei stunned with his qualification to the last day of the Male Kata competition. The 26-year-old karateka had never qualified for a title-deciding bout in international competitions and only had two bronze medals to count for. The current Asian Championships bronze medallist defeated top favourites Damian Quintero of Spain and Antonio Diaz of Venezuela to reach his first final. 

Meanwhile, Egypt’s Ahmed Elmasry was also one of the young karatekas causing a sensation in Paris. The 19-year-old U21 world champion made it to his first final in two appearances in senior international competitions. The experienced side of the final in Male Kumite -84kg will be taken by Iran’s Zabiollah Poorshab.

The winner of the 2015 Karate 1-Premier League in Paris hopes to go back to the top of the podium after defeating Grand Winner Ryutaro Araga of Japan in a thrilling semi-final bout. The Japanese Grand Winner showed his status of favourite throughout the competition but allowed an early Ippon from his Iranian adversary in the clash for the final. With few seconds left, Araga took an impressive ippon thus tying the bout. Zabiollah Poorshab got the ticket to the final by ‘Senshu’, andRyutaro Araga will defend his Grand Winner status in the third-place bout. 

Action will continue on Sunday with the third-place bouts and the finals. The clash for the third position will start at 09:00 (GMT). The finals are scheduled to start at 13.30 (GMT). The last day of competition from Paris 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.