The 2022 PKF Cadet, Junior & U21 Championships began Thursday in Mexico City. The young representatives of the powerhouse nation of Brazil prevailed on the opening day of the competition as they claimed six gold medals.
Brazilian aspiring karatekas were the big winners in both Cadet and U14 categories. Ana Luiza Santos opened the gold medal count for the powerhouse nation with her gold in Cadet Kumite Female -47kg. Vinicius Tamura took the title in Cadet Kumite Male -63kg while Diogo Schneider finished the gold medal count for Brazil in cadet divisions with his victory in Cadet Kumite Male -70kg.
Brazil also took three golds in U14, by Laura Calado in U14 Kata Female, Ugo Bronzoni in U14 Kata Male, and Gabriel Souza in U14 Kumite Male -40kg.
Hosts of Mexico also had plenty of reasons to celebrate as they finished the day with five golds. The young athletes from the organising country were successful in cadet divisions, where they took three titles: Geomara Quintero Flores in Cadet Kumite Female +54kg, Daniel Alejandro Cruz Romero in Cadet Kumite Male -52kg, and Isaac Alejandro Muñoz Saucedo in Cadet Kumite Male +70kg.
The list of gold medallists from Mexico was completed with Orlando Reyna Cano in U14 Kumite Male +55kg, and Kaito Daniel Yoshii Mizukami in U14 Kumite Male -50kg.
Representatives of the United States, Canada, and Chile also had successful performances on day 1 as they all took three crowns.
Madelyn Kennaway in Cadet Kata Female, Caio Dasilva in Junior Kata Male, and Hunter Rodriguez in U21 Kata Male won the gold medals for the United States.
The new continental champions from Canada are Matthew Gruitia in Cadet Kata Male, Oonah Gamboa in Junior Kata Female, and Mariana Guerrero in U14 Kumite +47kg.
Young karatekas from Chile were especially successful in kumite categories. Antonella Navarro in Cadet Kumite Female -54kg, Fernanda Altamirano in U14 Kumite Female -42kg, and Scarleth Reveco Morales in U14 Kumite Female -47kg won the titles for Chile.
No less than nine countries went home with gold medals on day 1 of the event. The host of continental champions today was completed with Jared Chuchuca of Ecuador in Cadet Kumite Male -57kg, Leon Joves Monroy of Venezuela in U14 Kumite Male -45kg, Ricardo Jeniel Rivera Rivera of Puerto Rico in U14 Kumite Male -55kg, and Valentina Zapata Machado of Colombia in U21 Kata Female.
Source and image: www.wkf.net
