It was not the day of the top guns. Besides Rafael Aghayev (-75 kg), winner of the Iranian world champion Asgari, Anzhelica Terliuga (-55 kg), who will play her 7th final of the year, and World champion Steven Da Costa (-67 kg), all the favorites lost one after the other during this first day of the Karate 1 in Moscow (October 4-6).
By Ludovic Mauchien in Moscow / Photo : Kphotos
-60 kg: Assadilov lost !
He won the last 4 K1 but he will not win the one in Moscow. Kazakhstan’s Assadilov was beaten in the ½ final at the decision (0-0) by the Turk Samdan. In the other semi-final, Macedonian Pavlov created the surprise by beating Italian world champion Angelo Crescenzo 1-0.
Final : Samdan (Tur) vs Pavlov (Mac)
Bronze : Assadilov (Kaz) vs. Shimirbekov (Kaz) / Crescenzo (Ita) vs. Kalnins (Let)
-67 kg: Da Costa comes back to life
He is back ! Steven Da Costa qualified for his 1st final since the European championships last March. In the semi finals, the Frenchman dominated Georgia’s Pataridze (0-0). On Sunday, the world champion will face Egypt's Elsawy, who defeated Japan's Funahashi in the semi-finals (3-1).
Final : S. Da Costa (Fra) vs Elsawy (Egy)
Bronze : Pataridze (Geo) vs Amirali (Kaz) / Funahashi (Jap) vs Pak Hnat (Ukr)
-75 kg : Aghayev again !
Saying that some said he was finished... Rafael Aghayev is again in the final, his 2nd in a row thanks, in particular, to his success in the last seconds against Iran’s World champion, Asgari, with a Mawashi chudan (2-0). The five-time world champion will face one of the surprises of the day, Kazakhstan’s Ainazarov, winner of Luigi Busa in the semifinal on a questionable decision (1-1 as both scored simultaneously). In the 1/4 final, in what will remain as the fight of the day, the Italian had defeated Ukraine’s Horuna. The fight has fasten in the last 30 seconds. There was 0-0. Then Horuna accelerated and scored by 2 gyaku. The affair seemed bent but, after 2 unsuccessful attempts of Ura Mawashi, Busa finally passed a Mawashi 2 seconds from the end (3-2).
Final : Aghayev (Aze) vs. Ainazarov (Kaz)
Bronze : Busa (Ita) vs Korabau (Blr) / Asgari vs Ibanez (Esp)
-50 kg : Hubrich, the big surprise
Nobody saw her coming, including the World champion Miyahara in the semifinal, who took a leg quickly (3-0) to finally lose 4-3. Germany's Shara Hubrich will play her first final for two years. She will be opposed to Iran’s Bahmanyar, first in K1 of Tokyo, who dominated the Chinese Li, vice-champion of Asia, 3-3 (Senshu). All the other favorites lost very quickly. Recchia in the 1st round, Ozcelik in the 2nd round (beaten by Gomez Morales) and Plank in the 3rd round (eliminated by Li).
Final: Hubrich (All) vs Bahmanyar (Irn)
Bronze: Li (Chn) vs Gomez Morales (Spain) / Miyahara (Jap) vs Aliyeva (Aze)
-55 kg: Terliuga of course !
Ukraine's Anzhelica Terliuga will play her 4th final in a row, her 7th of the year ! In the semifinal, she beat Iran’s Khaksar (1-0). On Sunday, she will face Japanese Yamada, winner of Taiwan's Wen Tzu-Yun (3-1) to win her 5th success in 2019. She's just awesome !
Final : Terliuga (Ukr) vs Yamada (Jap)
Bronze : Khaksar (Irn) vs Nakamura (Jap) / Wen Tzu-Yun (Tpe) vs. Serikova (Kaz)
