After nearly two years of hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Karate 1-Series A returns to the international calendar with the anticipated event to be held in Pamplona (Spain) from January 28 to 30.

It will be the first tournament of its kind since the Karate 1-Series A Santiago in January 2020. The competition will be held at the magnificent Navarra Arena sports hall, a state-of-the-art multi-purpose venue with a capacity for 11,000 spectators and with the best conditions for a first-class Karate event.

WKF RANKING CHALLENGE

One of the main updates of the 2022 season of Karate 1-Series A refers to the inscription of competitors and the greater importance of the WKF Ranking.

The categories will be limited to a maximum of 96 competitors per division. Only competitors who are ranked from the position 33 will be allowed to participate at Karate 1-Series A events.

Athletes will be striving to earn the points that allow them to participate in Karate’s biggest event, the Karate 1-Premier League. As only 32 athletes per category compete in the Karate 1-Premier League, first-class karatekas hope to reach the positions in the ranking which may give them the right to register to participate in all the phases of the tournament.

Therefore, the challenge of the WKF Ranking begins for many athletes as they aim to reach each one of the top-ranking groups: G32 (from positions 1 to 32), G64 (33 to 64) and G100 (65 to 100).

The results of the Karate 1-Series A Pamplona will have an immediate effect on the WKF Ranking and on the inscription of upcoming events since the points will be effective for athletes to register to the Karate 1-Premier League Lisbon.

Pamplona reemplazará a Salzburgo (Austria) como ciudad que inaugurará la competición Karate 1-Serie A 2022. Será del 28 al 30 de enero. El cambio de sede de Salzburgo a Pamplona se debe al enorme aumento de los contagios por Covid en Austria, según informa la Federación Mundial de Kárate.
De este modo, el Kárate 1-Series A Salzburgo tendrá lugar del 1 al 3 de abril.

La fecha final se confirmará más adelante dependiendo del desarrollo de la pandemia en Austria. Con la celebración de esta competición en Pamplona, España vuelve a acoger un gran evento de este deporte tras dar la bienvenida al Karate 1-Premier League en Madrid en 2019 y al Karate 1-Serie A en Guadalajara en 2018, y en Toledo en 2017. Madrid también acogió el Campeonato Mundial Senior 2018.
Sandra Sánchez será proclamada en Pamplona ‘Gran Winner’ de la Premier League 2020-2021, lo que le permitirá utilizar el karategi con el bordado dorado en estas pruebas de 2022.

The 2021 Karate World Senior Championships concluded today in Dubai. After six thrilling days of competition, Japan finished on top of the medal table of the memorable event with seven medals and four golds.

Egyptian and Spanish delegations also wrapped up deserving performances after taking three golds and two top awards, respectively.

The last day of the event put the Para-Karate competition and the finals of the Team categories on the central stage. Egypt topped the medal table of the Para-Karate World Championships after taking three gold medals, with Salma Alaaeldin Ebrahim and Abdelaziz Abouelnaga of Egypt, and Isabel Fernandez of Spain as the big stars of the competition as they re-took their world titles.

Powerhouse nation of Japan showcased their prevalence in Kata with World crowns in both Male and Female Team Kata.

Current champions of Japan defeated Spain in the final of Male Team Kata. The repetition of the title-deciding bout of Madrid 2018 also finished with the Japanese side on top as they upset Spaniards with a score of 28.28 points with “Unsu” kata to 26.08 points for the Spanish side.

The final of Female Team Kata also went to Japan. The representatives of the birth nation of the sport defeated Spain in the title-deciding bout. The clash also repeated finalists from the bout three years ago in Madrid and the Japanese squad took the victory again with a score of 27.26 points with “Unsu” kata for 26.0 for the Spaniards.

The new Para-Karate World Champions were crowned today as the 2021 edition of the Para-Karate World Championships were held in Dubai (UAE).

The Para-Karate competition was an inspiring demonstration of abilities as well as an excellent showcase of the strength of the Karate Values.

Over 80 athletes from 21 countries had registered to participate in the 2021 Para-Karate World Championships. Included in the programme of the Karate World Senior Championships, the Para-Karate World Championships once again helped to foster understanding of disabilities. It also put the spotlight on individuals who have conquered great disadvantages to present impressive athletic performances.

Egypt topped the medal table of the Para-Karate World Championships after taking three gold medals. Olivia Kakosy of Hungary opened the gold medal count of the Para-Karate competition today as the Hungarian Para-Karate athlete defeated team-mate Petra Karpati in Intellectually Impaired Female K21.

As the inspiring event continued, defending champion Salma Alaaeldin Ebrahim of Egypt demonstrated her prevalence of the category as she kept the title in Intellectually Impaired Female K22. The Egyptian titleholder defeated Spain’s Maria Ester de Leon in the final of the category.

The Egyptian delegation continued their gold medal count as Ahmed Elbeltagy prevailed in Intellectually Impaired K22 following a tight victory over Italy’s Mattia Allesina.

Wrapping up the impressive performance of Egyptian Para-Karate athletes, Abdelaziz Abouelnaga kept his world crown in Wheelchair User Male K30 in an all-Egypt final. Current champion Abouelnaga beat team-mate Mohamed Allakany in the final.

Meanwhile, Spain’s Carlos Huertas became the World champion in Intellectually Impaired Male K21 after defeating Moustafa Hassan of Egypt in the final. It is the first World title for Huertas who took bronze in Madrid 2018.

It was not the only gold for powerhouse nation of Spain as Isabel Fernandez regained her World crown in Wheelchair User Female K30. The Spaniard who had taken the title at home in Spain in 2018 keeps the special World champion karategi with the golden embroidery after defeating Virgine Ballario of France.

The title in Blind/Visually Impaired K10 went to Anastasia Hayes of the United States who edged Paula Silva of Brazil, and Alexe Dorin of Romania following a tight victory over Nohan Dudon in the inspiring title-deciding bout of the category.

CLICK HERE to go to all the info on the 2021 Para-Karate World Championships.