World Karate Championship in Venice

The 2024 World Cadet, Junior & U21 Karate Championships in Venice-Jesolo was a great event with amazing karate. Practicioners from 113 different countries gathered to participate in the competitions.

The WKF President Antonio Espinós started the event by saying:

”This tournament in Venice-Jesolo is the perfect showcase of the excellence of karate. We are grateful for the incredible support from FIJLKAM, the local officials, and the Italian Olympic Committee in making this championship a reality.”

“Events like this World Cadet, Junior & U21 Championships demonstrate that Karate is one of the most popular, appealing and celebrated disciplines in the sports ecosystem. Also, the many values displayed by our young karatekas this week represent the bright future of Karate.”

The first day offered great competition when the athletes faced off in the elimination rounds. The U21 kata male and female divisions took the centre stage. The cadet, junior kata teams and U21 kumite did also compete during the first day.

The second day was intense when the junior athletes met on the tatamis.

Yasmin Henrique from Brazil and Takata Azusa from Japan advanced to Junior Kata Female Final. Spain’s Izan Lopez Tomas and Soshi Okumura from Japan reached the Junior Kata Male Final. The Italian Legittimo Ludovica and the Swede Agnes Nyman advanced in Junior Kumite Female -48 kg. Alexandra Wolf from Germany and Juria Natori from Japan went through to the Junior Kumite Female -53 kg Final. France’s Monica Arzumian and Gulnur Koishybai from Kazakhstan are ready for the Junior Kumite Female -59 kg Final. Elize Bauld and Mariam Tantawi, Amalie Hakova and Sara Tomic, Thanakorn Taolek and Hani Rashid, Emanuele Califano and Saad Alsaif, Alvise Toniolo and Mohamed Ashraf Mohamed, Sven Strahija and Alikhan Kadyrgali, Federico Supino and Abdullah Alqahtani also went through to the finals.

On the third day of the event the finalists for the Cadet categories were decided. The representatives of Japan prevailed dominating the competition.

Those who went to the final were Anh Nguyen Mai Quynh and Wakana Ito, Takeru Hamazawa and Tarik Koc, Rinri Oda and Jana Vincic, Mariia Hnes and Wiktoria Kraczaj, Nourhan Elmorsi and Graziella Annael Ecchili, Mariam Bsharat and Roaa Mohamed, Abdulrahman Arafat and Maksym Viechkanov, Hatem Alharasees and Kabu Yagura, Mouaz Mostafa and Jorge Damian Flores Ortiz, Jusuf Saljiu and Almerico Tommasino, Arashi Chiba and Amro Albargawi.

On the fourth and final day the future karate stars showed how talented they are in the Cadet and Junior categories. Japan stood for an amazing performance. Sweden had a nice final day. Anthony Vu and Bao Bednarski won gold and Anges Nyman took a silver medal.

Wakana Ito from Japan won the gold medal in the Cadet Kata Female Final. She delivered a strong performance against Vietnam’s Anh Nguyen Mai Quynh. In the Cadet Kata Male Final Japan’s Takeru Hamazawa won the gold medal against Tarik Koc from Turkey. Maksym Viechkanov from Ukraine won the gold in the Cadet Kumite Male -52 kg final against Abdulrahman Arafat. Kabu Yagura won another gold medal for Japan in the Cadet Kumite Male -57 kg final against Hatem Alharasees. The Egyptian fighter Mouaz Mostafa was victorious against Jorge Damian Flores Ortiz from Guatemala in the Cadet Kumite Male -63 kg class. Rinri Oda won yet another gold medal for Japan beating Jana Vincic in the Cadet Kumite Female -47 kg final.

Mariia Hnes took the second gold for Ukraine in the Cadet Kumite Female -54 kg final. In front of her home crowd Graziella Annael Ecchili became the champion in the Cadet Kumite Female -61 kg final against Nourhan Elmorsi. Mariam Bsharat won the gold for Palestine in the Cadet Kumite Female 61+ kg by beating Roaa Mohamed in the final. Almerico Tommasino gave Italy the second gold medal by defeating Jusuf Saljiu in the Cadet Kumite Male -70 kg final. Japan was dominant in the finals and Arashi Chiba defeated Amro Albargawi in the Cadet Kumite Male 70+ kg final. Azusa Takata followed up with another Japanese gold when she defeated Yasmin Henrique in the Junior Kata Female final. In the Junior Kata Male final the Japanese Soshi Okumura won the gold medal against Izan Lopez Tomas. Hani Rashid from Jordan was victorious in the Junior Kumite Male -55 kg final against Thanakorn Taolek.

Italy could celebrate again when Emanuele Califano won the Junior Kumite Male -61 kg final against Saad Alsaif. Egypt won another gold medal when Mohamed Ashraf defeated Alvise Toniolo in the Junior Kumite Male -68 kg final. Italy had a very good last day and Ludovica Legittimo won yet another gold medal when she beat the Swede Agnes Nyman in the Junior Kumite Female -48 kg final. Juria Natori added another gold against Alexandra Wolf in the Junior Kumite Female -53 final. Monica Arzumian from France won the Junior Kumite Female -59 kg final by beating Gulnur Koishybai. Egypt’s third gold medal came when Mariam Tantawi won over Elize Bauld in the Junior Kumite Female -66 kg final. Croatia won the gold when Sara Tomic defeated Amalie Hakova in the Junior Kumite Female 66+ kg final. Kazakhstan’s Alikhan Kadyrgali defeated Sven Strahija in the final and won the gold medal in the Junior Kumite Male -76 kg class. Abdullah Alqahtani from Saudi Arabia became the champion in the Junior Kumite Male +76 kg final after beating Federico Supino.

In our next article we will report about Team Sweden’s amazing achievements during the tournament.