The fourth Karate 1-Premier League event of the season began Friday in Baku (Azerbaijan). Yorgelis Salazar of Venezuela, Anzhelika Terliuga of Ukraine and Steven Dacosta of France were among the heroes of the day.
YORGELIS SALAZAR CONTINUES ON FANTASTIC FORM
One of the most spectacular karatekas on today’s international scene, Yorgelis Salazar of Venezuela aims at winning her fifth medal in five events following an impressive showcase of abilities today in Female Kumite -50kg. Salazar qualified for the final after beating Seden Bugur of Germany by an outstanding 9-0.
The other spot in the final is taken by Sara Bahmanyar of Iran. It is the first final of the year for the 2018 World Championships bronze medallist who defeated Grand Winner Serap Ozcelik Arapoglu of Turkey in the semi-finals 2-1.
ANZHELIKA TERLIUGA EXTENDS DOMINATION OF FEMALE KUMITE -55KG
Ukraine’s Anzhelika Terliuga became one of the big names of the day as she reached her fifth final in five events this year. The current Grand Winner performed at a fantastic level today and she aims at her fourth consecutive crown following a 7-4 victory over Tuba Yakan of Turkey.
The final on Sunday is set to be thrilling as Grand Winner Terliuga will clash for gold against World champion Ahlam Youssef of Egypt. The current World and continental titleholder edged Shiori Nakamura of Japan in the final 1-1.
NEW GENERATION OF KATA STARS ON THE RISE
The category of Female Kata will have Hikaru Ono of Japan and Mo Sheung Grace Lau of Hong Kong fighting for the title in Baku.
Current World Championships runner-up Hikaru Ono caused one of the upsets of the day as she defeated two-time World titleholder and Olympic Games silver medallist Kiyou Shimizu in an all-Japan semi-final (score of 27.00 to 26.80).
Meanwhile, Mo Sheung Grace Lau who is an Olympic Games bronze medallist showcased impressive progress as she qualified for her third consecutive final after defeating Natsuki Shimizu of Japan by 26.00 to 24.88.
AZERBAIJAN CELEBRATES AMINAGHA GULIYEV QUALIFICATION TO FINAL
Aminagha Guliyev gave hosts plenty of reasons to celebrate as he qualified for the title-deciding bout in Male Kumite -60kg. It is the first Karate 1-Premier League final for the promising karateka who beat Christos-Stefanos Xenos of Greece by “Hantei” or decision 0-0.
Also a first-time finalist, Karime Aboeitta of Egypt surprised favourites and reached the final of the category after upsetting Kaisar Alpysbay of Kazakhstan 2-1.
Source and image: www.wkf.net
