In Wizink Center, Ryo Kiyuna and Kiyou Shimizu dominated their category. Apart from the kata, the show was total and the finalists expected or not will meet again on Saturday
By Florian Fournier
Photo : Kphotos
FEMALE KATA
Final : Sanchez vs Shimizu
New competition and new final confrontation between Sandra Sanchez and Kiyou Shimizu. At home, the Spanish girl is only one step away from the crown and a whole people will support her on Saturday. On her side, Kiyou Shimizu, the two-time reigning World champion, will be looking for a third crown to further strengthen her position as queen of kata. As expected, Sanchez found Hong Kong's Grace Lau in the semi-finals for a 5-0 win and Shimizu inflicted the same score to Italy’s Viviano Bottaro.
Woman of the day : Maria Dimitrova
Surprise of the 2018 Paris Open when she finished 5th, Dominican Maria Dimitrova will compete for the bronze medal this Saturday. Eliminated by Sanchez in the second round (5-0), she then won 5-0 twice and 4-1 in the repechage. In front of her, Grace Lau will be there. A difficult task for the Dominican woman.
MALE KATA
Final : Kiyuna vs Quintero
Expected, the final between Ryo Kiyuna and Damian Quintero will occcur. Imperial, the reigning two-time World champion and the World n°2 won all their round 5-0. With two years to go to the Olympic Games, this final could be a foretaste of Tokyo 2020. If Kiyuna is aiming his third consecutive title, Damian Quintero will be looking for his first title at home in Spain.
We will also note the beautiful course of the latter who, in the second round, wins with Anan against Turkey’s Sofuoglu and then in the semi-final with Suparinpei against Antonio Diaz, the 2010 and 2012 World champion.
Man of the day : Mattia Busato
Winning only one match since his third place at the European championships last May, the Italian karateka made it to the bronze final. He will challenge Germany’s Smorguner, the 2014 World championships runner-up, to win his first world medal.
+84 kg
Final : Horne vs Ganjzadeh
Defending world champion Sajad Ganjzadeh of Iran will defend his world title on Saturday. Only his Round of 16 match against US Irr could make him shake. Led 2-4, he won 6-2 with a few seconds to go.
On Saturday, Jonathan Horne, still looking for the world title, will face him to win the crown. The German fighter, who emerged from an epic semi-final against Spain's Seck where he was stopped several times for bleeding, will arrive like a starving bite to look for gold.
Bronze : Reis (Por) vs Seck (Esp) and Yamanoglu (Tur) vs Pshenitsyn (Rus)
Man of the day : Felipe Reis will fight for Bronze. Qualified to compete for the third place, Portugal's Filipe Reis has just completed the most successful competition of his career. He will have to get rid of Spaniard Seck to win the medal. On Saturday, this duel between the Portuguese and the Spanish promises to be electric in a white-hot Wizink Center.
-84 kg
Final : Chobotar vs Kvesic
After two sensational semi-finals between Ukrain’s Chobotar and Kazakhstan’s Yuldashev, then between Turkey’s Aktas and Croatia’s Kvesic, the Ukrainian and Croatian fighters qualified for the final. Chobotar, who won at the flag, saw his coach injured while celebrating his victory. On the other side, Kvesic won 2-1.
Man of the day : Isakau dominates King Araga
For a surprise, that's a surprise. Reigning world champion and favourite in the category, Japan's Ryutaro Araga fell to Belarus Isakau 6-0 in the second round of the world championships. But Isakau lost to Croatia’s Kvesic in the next round (5-3).
+68 kg
Final : Uekusa vs Chatziliadou
As in 2016, the women's final of the + 68kg category will opposed Japan’s Ayumi Uekusa, the reigning world champion, and Greece’s Eleni Chatziliadou. Uekusa, the undeniable favourite, reached the final by winning 2-0 against Anne-Laure Florentin of France in the semi-final. On her side, Chatziliadou won her semi-final against Egypt’s Abouel.
Bronze : Florentin (Fra) vs Antunovic (Swe) and Abouel (Egy) vs Bruederlin (Sui).
-68kg
Final : Zaretska vs Isaeva
No Someya, no Agier or Querici, it is Irina Zaretska and Victoria Isaeva who will try to win a world title on Saturday.
In the semi-final, Azerbaijani Zaretska defeated Ukrainian Melnyk 2-1, while in the other semi-final, Isaeva literally dominated Belarusian Aliakseyeva 8-0.
Bronze : Matoub (Alg) vs Aliakseyeva (Blr) et Melnyk (Ukr) vs Kopunova (Svk)
