Representatives of Spain succeed on day 2 of #Karate1Pamplona

Karatekas of the host nation and Danilo Greco and Ernest Sharafutfdinov were the big winners of the second day of the Karate 1-Series A Pamplona.

DANILO GRECO MAKES BEST OF WORLD RANKING CHALLENGE

Italy’s Danilo Greco was one of the heroes of the day as the former Junior continental champion qualified for the final of Male Kumite -60kg. Greco defeated team-mate Luigi Bisaccia in the semi-finals 3-1. With this result, the Italian karateka reaches the Top 32 of the WKF World Ranking.

In the final, Greco will meet Aymane Takzima of Ukraine. A first-timer finalist, Takzima defeated Italy’s Carmine Luciano in the semi-finals 6-3.

ERNEST SHARAFUTDINOV MAKES IT TO TOP 32

Russia’s Ernest Sharafutdinov also prevailed in the WKF World Ranking Challenge. The Russian karateka needed to make it to the final of Male Kumite -67kg to reach the Top 32 of the ranking and that is exactly what he did. The number 50 in the ranking claimed a convincing 11-1 victory over Algeria’s Yanis Tas in semi-finals.

The category was also successful for hosts of Spain as Samy Ennkhaili aims at repeating the triumph at the 2018 Karate 1-Series A Guadalajara with a qualification to the final here. The Spaniard defeated Romania’s Florin Gogolosi 3-0.

EXPERIENCED KARATEKAS LEAVING THEIR MARK

In Female Kumite -50kg, experienced Valeria Kumizaki of Brazil used her competitive edge to her advantage as she made it to the finals. The former World Championships runner-up beat Ukraine’s Yuliia Palashevska in the semi-finals 5-3.

After the successful opening day, France put another of their representatives in the final round. Tiphaine Bonnarde reached her first title-deciding bout after edging Alba Pinilla of Spain 5-4.

The experience also worked in favour of Olympian Bettina Plank of Austria who qualified for the final of Female Kumite -55kg. The two-time World Championships bronze medallist defeated Spain’s Marta Cortes in semi-finals 1-0 and will clash for gold against Germany’s Mia Bitsch.

The promising German karateka and sister of Karate Stars Noah and Jana qualified for her first final in senior competitions following a 2-0 victory in semi-finals over Greece’s Maria Stoli.

In Female Kumite -61kg, Elena Quirici of Switzerland also used the experience to reach the finals. The two-time continental champion edged Aurora Graziosi of Italy by “Hantei” or decision to qualify for the gold-medal bout.

Hosts of Spain had plenty of reasons to celebrate as Carlota Fernandez Osorio reached another final for the organising country in Kumite. The four-time Karate 1-Premier League bronze medallist also won the semi-final bout against Ukraine’s Oleksandra Sholokhova by “Hantei” or decision.

SPAIN EXTEND DOMINATION IN KATA

After claiming two spots in the finals of kata categories on day 1, the prevalence of Spain in kata continued on day 2.

In Male Kata, Raul Martin made it to his first final in international senior competitions after topping the pool with a score of 26.0. His rival in the final is Ryuji Moto of Japan who is also a first-timer finalist and who dominated the pool with a score of 26.34.

Spaniards garnered two more places in the finals as the title-deciding bout of Female Team Kata will be an All-Spain affair. The two finalist teams come from the host nation.

The competition concludes Sunday with the finals and bronze medal bouts. All the medal bouts are available LIVE on the WKF YouTube channel.

CLICK HERE to go to the micro-site of Karate 1-Series A Pamplona.

(Pictures: @ JM Rodriguez / RFEK)

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