The opening event of the 2019 Karate 1-Youth League finished this weekend in Limassol (Cyprus) with youngsters from all over the world celebrating the popularity of the sport at young ages. Russian karatekas with five gold medals topped the medal table of the massive event.
After three days of competition, the representatives of the Russian delegation demonstrated their prevalence by dominating the first event of the season of the Karate 1-Youth League. Young Russian karatekas took the flag of the powerhouse nation of the sport to the top of the podium five times with a remarkable performance, especially in U14 categories. Evgenii Son in Cadet Kumite Male -57kg, Vladislav Taldykin in Junior Kumite Male -68kg, Varishan Bakirov in U14 Kata Male, Dmitrii Koniaev in U14 Kumite Male +55kg and Sergei Suvorin in U14 Kumite Male -40kg were the gold medallists for the Russian delegation.
Egyptian karatekas with four gold medals and representatives of Jordan and Ukraine with three golds each also registered remarkable performances in Limassol. Ukrainian and Egyptian athletes dominated the Cadet categories with two top awards respectively while Egyptian and Jordan representatives were the top contenders in Junior categories.
The event also crowned some of the most promising young karatekas in the world. Annika Saelid of Norway got the title in Junior Kumite +59kg after winning the gold medal in the same category at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires. Nodoka Yamada of Japan who was the 2018 continental champion in Cadet Kata Female took the crown in Junior Female Kata while Hammad Abdallah of Jordan dominated the Junior Kumite Male -61kg category following his bronze medal in the AKF Cadet, Junior & U21 Championships barely one week ago. Continental bronze medallist Aleksandra Grujic of Austria prevailed in Junior Kumite Female -48kg in Limassol and took her fourth gold in Karate 1-Youth League events.
After the successful competition in Limassol, the Karate 1-Youth League travels to Umag (Croatia) where the second event of the season will take place from July 5 to 7.
Source: www.wkf.net
