He fought for an 11th title, Rafael Aghayev did it. On Saturday, the Azerbaijanese fighter wrote another page of history. Nobody did it before him.

By Fournier Florian

+68kg : Florentin’s Hat trick

It was expected since Thursday night, Anne-Laure Florentin has made an impressive hat-trick (three consecutive titles). In the final, against Greece’s Chatziliadou, the French woman easily stroke. A Gyaku Tsuki Jodan, a Gyaku Tsuki chudan and a Kizami Tsuki at the end of the fight allowed Anne-Laure Florentin to win the Gold. The French karateka is now aiming to win the world title in November in Madrid?

Or: Anne-Laure Florentin (Fra)
Silver : Eleni Chatziliadou (Gre)
Bronze: Laura Palacio (Spa) and Anamarija Celan (Cro)

-68kg: Quirici, what a come back !

Back from injury, Elena Quirici won the title. If we expected Alizee Agier in the final, it is Azerbaijan’s Zaretska who gave the reply to the Swiss. But she finally lost 1-0.

Gold : Elena Quirici (Swi)
Silver :Irina Zaretska (Aze)
Bronze : Ivona Cavar (Bos) and Silvia Semeraro (Ita)

-61kg: Ignace wins her 3^rd title

Arriving without too many landmarks, Lucie Ignace managed to win her third European title. In the final, the French woman dominated Ukrainia’s Serogina (2-1). In the neck (1-1), Ignace took the fight to his account 4 seconds from the end by scoring the point of victory.

Gold : Lucie Ignace (Fra)
Silver :Anita Serogina (Ukr)
Bronze : Merve Coban (Tur) and Tjasa Ristic (Slo)

-55kg : Terliuga gets her first European gold

World n°1 but never titled on a continental championship, Anzhelika Terliuga became on Saturday European champion. Opposed to Croatia’s Hasani, it is a close fight that took place between the two fighters. Opening the score 20 seconds up the end, the Croatian champion thought she had done the job. But to over-manage her fight, she finally get caught by an ura mawashi geri of the Ukrainian fighter 3 seconds up to the end. With this majestic kick, Terliuga wins the biggest title of his career.

Or: Anzhelika Terliuga (Ukr)
Silver : Alesandra Hasani (Cro)
Bronze: Sara Cardin (Ita) and Tuba Yakan (Tur)

-50kg : Ozcelik goes to the flags

In her duel against Bettina Plank, Serap Ozcelik broke the Austrian's clutches to win a new European title, her third. In a tense fight, the decision was finally put in the hands of the judges (1-1) and it is five flags in favor of the Turkish fighter who got up. Expected in the final, Alexandra Recchia took 1'15 to score 8-0 and win the bronze medal. Her opponent, Romania’s Alexandra Pop, did not exist.

Gold :Serap Ozcelik (Tur)
Silver :Bettina Plank (Aust)
Bronze: Alexandra Recchia (Fra) and Nurana Aliyeva (Aze)

Kata: Sandra Sanchez is the boss

There were no surprises in this women's kata final. World number one and ultimate favorite, even without a real competitor on the European soil, Sandra Sanchez won 5-0 against the Italian Viviana Bottaro

Gold : Sandra Sanchez Jaime (Esp)
Silver : Viviana Bottaro (Ita)
Bronze : Dilara Eltemur (Tur) and Dorota Balciarova (Svk)

Team Kumite : Switzerland like in a dream

In the final, Switzerland, led by its champion Elena Quirici, won the title at the expense of the Italian armada (2-0).

Gold : Switzerland
Silver :Italy
Bronze : France and Croatia

« El maestro Rafael Aghayev »

+84kg : Klepic is the n°1

Bosnian Klepic won the title of the European heavyweights this Saturday. He dominated in the final Azerbaijan’s Atamov, 1-0.

Or: Ivan Klepic (Bos)
Silver : Sahahin Atamov (Aze)
Bronze: Tyron-Darnell Lardy (Ner) and Gogita Arkania (Geo)

-84kg: Martina, the young boy became a man

Young Italian Michele Martina, U21 World champion, won his first senior title by winning gold at the expense of Croatian Kvesic (3-3, senshu victory). Controlling his fight, the Italian fighter leads 2-0 before taking a mawashi geri jodan and sees his opponent taking the lead of 15 seconds up to the end. Martina succeeds thanks to a gyaku tsuki 3 seconds up to the end and thus prevails senshu.

Or: Michele Martina (Ita)
Silver : Ivan Kvesic (Cro)
Bronze: Helio Hernandez (Por) and Ugur Aktas (Tur)

-75kg : the 11^th title for Aghayev

On the way to an 11th European title, Rafael Aghayev won 2-1 against Harspataki in the final on Saturday. The Hungarian fighter never seemed able to worry his opponent. In his quest for Olympus, Aghayev has just brought a new stone.

Gold : Rafael Aghayev (Aze)
Silver :Gabor Harspataki (Hun)
Bronze: Luigi Busa (Ita) and Stanislav Horuna (Ukr)

-67kg : Uygur keeps his title

European champion at home in Turkey last year, Burak Uygur has just doubled the bet on Saturday in Novi Sad (Serbia). In the final, the Turkish fighter defeated Serbia’s Joksic (2-2). See his interview elsewhere.

Or: Burak Uygur (Tur)
Silver :Stefan Joksic (Ser)
Bronze : Yves Martial Tadissi (Hun) and Stefan Pokorny (Aut)

-60kg : a 2^nd title for Pavlov

European Champion in Finland (2014), Macedonia’s Pavlov has just re-offended. Facing the Italian Crescenzo in the final, the fight ended in a victory for Pavlov (3-1).

Or: Emil Pavlov (Mkd)
Silver :Angelo Crescenzo (Ita)
Bronze: Evgeny Plakhutin (Rus) and Kalvis Kalnins (Lat)

Kata : Quintero confirms, Sofuoglu surprises

He was the favorite of the event, Damian Quintero, first winner in Dubai of Ryo Kiyuna, who was undefeated since 2013, won 4-1 in the final. Facing him, Turkey’s Ali Sofuoglu surprised by performing Sansai kata, from Gensei-Ryu style. Powerful, technical and precise, on this quite unknown kata in the world circuit, the young Turkish confirmed all the promises put in him.

Gold : Damian Quintero (Esp)
Silver :Ali Sofuoglu (Tur)
Bronze: Mattia Busato (Ita) et Roman Heydarov (Aze)