The young Egyptian Youssef Badawy, world champion at 20, winner of 5 of his last 6 tournaments, is again in the final. In Baku, the double world champion, Iryna Zaretska, has recovered from her injury and will also be in the final tomorrow Sunday, like Serogina, Gurbanli, Moto, Semeraro...
By Ludovic Mauchien / Photo: Karatepixglobal
-84 kg
The favorite is on time. The young Egyptian Youssef Badawy (21), world champion, winner of 5 tournaments out of the last 6 (+ a final), will meet his compatriot Ramadan, who defeated Kvesic in ¼ (9-5) then Shimada in ½.
The Turkish Aktas was taken out in round robin while the Iranian Poorshab lost in the ¼ finals against Shimada (4-4).
Final : Badawy (Egy) vs Ramadan (Egy)
½ finals : Ramadan (Egy) b. Shimada (Jpn), 6-3 / Badawy (Egy) b. Hasanov (Aze), 6-0
+84 kg
It is all in all a surprise final that we will follow on Sunday. The Azerbaijani Gurbanli dominated the world champion Gogita Arkania in the ½ final. For his part, Taha Mahmoud defeated Tunisian Fatih Sen, who defeated Tareg Hamedi, the Olympic vice-champion, in ¼ (7-4).
Final : Gurbanli (Aze) vs Mahmoud (Egy)
½ finals : Gurbanli (Aze) b. Arkania (Geo), 5-1 / Mahmoud (Egy) b. Sen (Tun), 1-0
Kata M
It will be a 100% Japanese final which we will attend on Sunday. In fact, the “real” final took place in ½ final when Kazumasa Moto was opposed to the Turkish Ali Sofluoglu. In a high-flying duel, the Japanese had the last word.
Kakeru Nishiyama doesn't deserve it though. He notably beat Ariel Torres Gutierrez in the ¼ final.
Final : Nishiyama (Jpn) vs. K. Moto (Jpn)
½ finals : Nishiyama (Jpn) b. Ikeda (Jpn), 25.34 vs 24.94 / K. Moto (Jpn) b. Sofuoglu (Tur), 26.74 vs. 26.6
-61 kg
The Ukrainian Anita Serogina, 1st at Matosinhos and 3rd at the Europeans, will play a new final on Sunday against a young novice at this level. Sweden's Anna-Johanna Nilsson will experience her first international final. To do this, she got rid of the solid Iranian Alipourkheska in ½ and the Moroccan Chajai in ¼.
Final : Serogina (Ukr) vs Nilsson (Sue)
½ finals : Serogina (Ukr) b. Malauta (Rou), 5-0 / Nilsson (Sue) b. Alipurkheska (Irn), 2-1
-68 kg
The world n°1 and 2-time world champion, Iryna Zaretska, opposed to the world n°2, the Italian Silvia Semeraro. What a beautiful final ! The 2 athletes know each other very well and it's a real fight every time.
In the ¼ finals, the Azerbaijani defeated the Swiss Elena Quirici (5-2) while Semeraro dominated Melnyk (2-0).
Note the performance of the young Moroccan Nisrine Brouk against the German Schroeter 12-4 (¼ final).
Final : Semeraro (Ita) vs. Zaretska (Aze)
½ finals : Zaretska (Aze) b. Brouk (Mar), 3-0 / Semeraro (Ita) b. Kanay (Kaz), 13-3
+68 kg
A surprise final also in this category of +68 kg. Berultseva is eliminated in the ½ final by the Japanese Saito while the Ukrainian Stepashko, who will play her 2nd final since 2017, beat Ayumi Uekusa in ¼ (3-1), and then the Japanese Sawae, reigning Asian champion.
Final : Saito (Jpn) vs Stepashko (Ukr)
½ finals : Saito (Jpn) b. Berultseva (Kaz), 3-1 / Stepashko (Ukr) b. Sawae (Jpn), 3-2
The Finals’ schedule
Sunday 4
Matches for bronze (10 a.m.-2:10 p.m. local time) and finals (3:35 p.m.-6 p.m.)
