7th success in eight Premier League for Ayumi Uekusa of Japan (+68 kg), 26th medal and 2nd straight win for Sandra Sanchez Jaime of Sapin (Kata). The two champions made their mark on the women's tournament in Rotterdam (March 16th-18th). Gwendoline Philippe of France, 18 years old, U21 World champion (-61 kg), and Johanna Kneer of Germany, U21 European champion in 2016 (-68 kg) won their first Karate 1. And certainly not the last... Summary category by category.

By Ludovic Mauchien / Photos : K-Photos

-50 kg

3rd in Guadalajara, Ayaka Tadano, the two-times Asian champion (2015, 2017), did not miss the boat in Rotterdam. After beating Kateryna Kryva (Ukr) in the ¼ finals and Serap Ozcelik of Turkey in the 1/2 final (1-0), she dominated the Indonesia’s Srunita Sari Sukantel, in the final (4-1). The latter, whose latest podium was in... 2013, won the U21 World runner-up, Bahmanyar of Iran, in the quarter-finals, before dominating Elena Stepanova of Russia in the ½ final.

The favourites. The World champion, Alexandra Recchia of France, lost in her first match against Morales, from Ciudad de Roma in Spain (1-0). Miho Miyahara, the World silver medallist, was beaten by Koulinkovitch (Blr) in 8^th of finals. Bettina Plank, of Austria, lost at the 2^nd round against Gu Shiau Shuang (Tai).

The podium.

1 Tadano (Jap)

2 Sukatendel (Indo)

3 Stepanova (Rus) and Ozcelik (Tur)

-55 kg

The reigning Asian champion, Tzu Yun Wen Taiwan, already 3rd in Dubai, won her fourth Karate 1 by defeating Yakan Tuba of Turkey in the final (3-1). Previously, in the semi final, she had beaten the reigning World champion, Emilie Thouy of France (4-1). Yakan Tuba, 1st in Guadalajara, dominated the World N°1, Anzhelika Terliugha of Ukraine in the other semifinal (1-0).

The favourites. Emilie Thouy lost in ½ final against Tzu Yun Wen and against Yamada for the bronze medal (3-1). Sara Cardin of Italy, who had won in Dubai, lost in the round of 16 to Zakharova of Kazakstan (3-0). Jefry Krishnan of Malaysia, winner in Paris, lost to Shiori Nakamura in the second round (0-0, decision). Valeria Kumizaki of Brazil, the World N°4 and reigning Panamerican champion, lost to Tosun (Tur) in her 1st fight.

The podium.

1 Wen Tzu yun (Tai)

2 Yakan (Tur)

3 Yamada (Jap) and Terliuga (Ukr)

-61 kg

She is only 18 years old but she starts to scary everyone. 17th in the World ranking, Gwendoline Philippe of France, U21 World champion, finalist in Paris, won her first Karate 1 in Rotterdam. In the semi finals, she beat Phuong Lien Mai Thi (VN) 11-3 before winning against Merve Coban of Turkey, 1st in Guadalajara, in the final (2-0). In the other semi-final, the latter won 2-0 over Madina Utelbayeva (Kaz).

The favourites. The World silver medallist, Lucie Ignace of France, lost in the quarter-final against Thi Ngoan Nguyen (5-0). Ana Lenard of Croatia lost 3-0 in the 1/8 finals to Anita Serogina (Ukr), who then lost in the ¼ finals against Coban (decision). Ferrer Garcia of Spain, 3^rd in Dubai, lost in the first round to Utelbayeva (Kaz). The World n°1, Xiaoyan Yin of China, the two-time World champion, Gianna Lofty of Egypt and World N°3 Prekovic of Serbia were all absent.

The podium.

1 Philippe (Fra)

2 Coban (Tur)

3 Serogina (Ukr) and Thi Ngoan (VN)

-68 kg

Johanna Kneer of Germany, U21 European Champion in 2016, keeps surprising everybody. 3rd in Halle and Istanbul last September, she had her first big Senior win in Rotterdam. In the semi-final, she dominated 3-0 Ivona Cavar (Bos) before beating Miroslava Kopunova of Slovakia in the final (6-2). The latter had dominated Malissa Bratic of Canada (1-0) in the other ½ final.

The favourites. Winner in Paris and Dubai, the current World N°1, Alizee Agier of France could not achieve a 3^rd success in a row. She lost in her first fight against Halyna Melnyk of Ukraine (4-0). The Asian champion and silver medallist in Paris, Kayo Someya Japan, lost in the round of 16 against Ivona Cavar (2-1). Cristina Vizcaino Gonzalez of Spain lost to Someya in the 2^nd round, as did Elena Quirici of Switzerland against Lisa Rasmusson (Swe) and Semeraro of Italy against Esmaeili (Ira). Katerine Pedersen (Den) lost in the 8th of finals against Malissa Bratic (Can). Alisa Buchinger (Aut) and Iryna Zaretska (Aze) were absent.

The podium.

1 Kneer (Ger)

2 Kopunova (Svq)

3 Melnyk (Ukr) and Avazeri (Fra)

+68 kg

Seven gold medals in her last eight Premier League ! We do not have to look very far to find the boss of this division. It is the running World champion of Japan, Ayumi Uekusa, 25 years old. If she missed it in Paris, she then won Dubai and doubled in Rotterdam. Winner 2-0 in the semi finals of Meltem Hocaoglu of Turkey, she then beat Hamideh Abbasali of Iran, World N°10 (decision). The latter had previously won Hana Anturovic (Swe) and Torres Garcia (Spa) before winning her ½ final by default of Anne-Laure Florentin of France (KO in her ¼ final against Natsumi Kawamura).

The favourites. Anastasyia Stepashko (Ukr) lost in the ¼ finals against Hocaoglu. Eda Eltemur (Tur) lost in 8th of finals against Natsumi Kawamura, as did Dominika Tatarova against Torres Garcia (Spa). Mengmeng Gao of China, World n°6, was absent.

The podium.

1 Uekusa (Jap)

2 Abbasali (Ira)

3 Bektas (Bos) and Creemers (PB)

Kata

26th medal in a row in international competitions ! That’s a kata wonder woman job ! The reigning European champion, Sandra Sanchez Jaime of Spain, also World N°1 is the only one to stand up to the Japanese team. Gold medallist in Dubai, the Spanish kata woman dominated World N°4, Hikaru Ono, in the semi-finals (3-2), and then the Asian champion, Emiri Iwamoto, 2^nd in Paris, in the final (4-1). The latter had beaten on the wire, in the other 1/2 final, Grace Mo Sheung Lau (Hong Kong), 3-2. To note the absence of the two-time World champion, Kiyou Shimizu.

The podium.

1 Sanchez Jaime (Spa)

2 Iwamoto (Jap)

3 Lau Mo Sheung (HK) and Ono (Jap)

Team Kata

Eight teams played the 2018 Rotterdam title of the women's team kata. In the same way as their male counterparts, the absence of Olympic Games will certainly be detrimental to the quality and quantity of the entries in this category. Spain (Garcia Lozano, Rodriguez Encabo, Roy Rubio) easily dominated Germany (Heinrich, Juettner, Wachter) in the final (4-1). In the semi-finals, the Spanish had won 5-0 against Malaysia (Chang, Khaw, Lee) while the Germans had dominated the Turkih team (Eltemur, Kusmus, Sofuoglu), 3-2.

The podium.

1 Spain

2 Germany

3 Turkey and Malaysia