On Tuesday 24^th October, the 26^th karate world championships started in Budapest. In the morning, Damian Quintero, Ali Sofuoglu, Hikaru Ono and Grace Lau qualified for the final in kata.

In the afternoon, the reigning world champions, Youssef Badawy -84kg, Maria Torres Garcia +68kg and Irina Zaretska -68kg reached the final.

By Florian Fournier / Photo : D.R

+84kg:

Final: Mahmoud (Egy) vs Filali (Fra)

½ final: Mahmoud (Egy) b. Felipin (Bre), 5-2 and Filali (Fra) b. Ganjzadeh (Ira), 8-3

Facts of the day:

Reigning European champion, the French Mehdi Filali qualifies for the first time in his career in a final of the world championships. Author of an excellent performance, he notably inflicted a 4-0 to the Croatian Kvesic before beating 8-3 to the Iranian Olympic champion, Sajad Ganjzadeh in the semi-final.

Furthermore, in a remake of the Olympic final, Sajad Ganjzadeh won 3-3 against Tareq Hamedi in the 1/8th final.

During his 1/4, the Iranian won 5-3 against Babacar Seck with a controversial sweep supposedly doen after a chudan yoko from the Sapinsh. After protesting, the Spanish obtained nothing and was eliminated from the competition.

-84kg:

Final: Youssef Badawy (Egy) vs Khodabakhshi (Ira)

½ final: Youssef Badawy (Egy) b. Gasparian, 7-3 and Khodabakhshi (Ira) b. Shimada (Jap), 6-5

Facts of the day:

The young Egyptian Youssef Badawy, reigning world champion, will have the privilege of defending his title. Author of a great day, he will fight the Iranian Khodabakhi in the final.

Kata:

Final: Quintero (Spa) vs Sofuoglu (Tur)

Bronze: Nishiyama (Jap) / Busato (Ita) and Torres Gutierrez (Usa) / Ghaly (Egy)

Facts of the day:

Ryo Kiyuna retired, Damian Quintero had to respond to try to win his first world title on Saturday. Without trembling, the Spaniard reached the final once again after 2018 and 2021. By beating the Japanese Nishiyama in the 3rd round 43.5 for 43.3, Ali Sofuoglu will challenge the Spanish.

Female

+68kg:

Final: Torres Garcia (Spa) vs Saito (Jap)

½ final: Torres Garcia (Spa) b. Berultseva (Kaz), 4-4 and Saito (Jap) b. Okila Menna (Egy), 3-1

Facts of the day:

She will defend her title won two years ago. The Spanish woman Maria Torres Garcia is in the final of the world championships. In a semi-final identical to the 2021 one when she met the Kazakh Berultseva, Maria Torres Garcia won this time 4-4 and will meet the Japanese Saito in the final.

-68kg:

Final: Quirici (Sui) vs Zaretska (Aze)

½ final: Quirici (Sui) b. Agier (Fra), 1-0 and Zaretska (Aze) b. Zefanya (Ind), 5-5

Facts of the day:

We no longer separate them. Elena Quirici and Irina Zaretska meet once again in the final of an international competition. On Saturday, the stakes will be simple, becoming world champion for the first, winning a third crown in a row for the second. We couldn't have dreamed of a better final.

Kata:

Final: Ono (Jap) vs Lau (Hkg)

Bronze: Kokumai (Usa) / Lozano (Spa) and D’Onofrio (Ita) / Bozan (Tur)

Facts of the day:

Sandra Sanchez and Kiyou Shimizu absent, women's kata opens up to a new era. Replacing Shimizu, Ono reached her first world final. Often on the podium, Grace Lau will be opposed to the Japanese.