Cairo in the spotlight of world karate

The international karate season is in full swing. Next stop for the athletes visited Cairo, where the third stage of the Premier League took place. In which, of course athletes from the «Budo-Nord» team also took part.

To begin with, it should be noted that the capital of Egypt is a long-standing location of world karate. Cairo previously hosted the event in 2021 and 2023, this time hosting the third such tournament. You can also remember that in 2015 and 2016 the Premier League was held in Sharm el-Sheikh.

The turnout for the tournament was adequate. 381 karatekas from fifty-nine countries, where Italy was represented by a record number of athletes – 38. Japan had the second largest (32 participants) and Japan delegated 26 athletes.

It should also be noted that from this season the struggle in the Premier League has become even more intriguing, because it is through it that the selection of participants in the World Cup is carried out – 2025. In this sense, it is important to gain points at stages in order to qualify for the World Championship in the future.

If we talk about the results of the athletes who competed in «Budo-Nord» equipment, Aghalarzade Tural (67 kg) lost to Kurt Enes Fatıh with a score of 0-8 in the first meeting of the group stage.

The match with the Turkish karateka was decisive in terms of the future prospects of the quartet. Having lost in it, the winner of the European Games subsequently beat Abdelmalki Amin from Belgium (0:2), and then lost to Chilean Freire Fuentes Tomas – 4:7. As a result, Aghalarzadeh took third place in the subgroup.

Ukrainian Naıda Valentyn competed in the same category. His first fight turned out to be exciting and was marked by a victory over the Portuguese Goncalves Guılherme – 4:1. In the next match, he lost to the Moroccan Oubaya Saıd (2:5) and finished the tournament with a victory over the Turkish representative Yılmaz Ekrem Altuner – 1:0. Two victories allowed Naıda to take second place in the group.

In the weight category up to 75 kg, Haag Ricky was in a shortened subgroup of three participants. The Swedish athlete lost in hantei to Zaplıtnyı Andrıı from Ukraine and Jordanian Masarweh Hasan, taking last place.

Two karatekas from the «Budo-Nord» team competed in the up to 84 kg category. Toroshanko Andrii started with a victory over the Japanese Eto Junya (4:0), after which he won with a score of 4. Smoliga Julian Enrik from Slovakia – 9:0. Therefore, the final match against the Algerian representative Midoune Falleh was akin to a final – a ticket to the quarterfinals was at stake. Toroshanko lost and took second place in the quartet.

And Tsymbal Konstantyn lost in all matches, losing in turn to Spasenovski Petar (Macedonia, 1:4), Garibovic Enes (Croatia, 0:2) and Yuldashev Daniyar (Kazakhstan, 0:2). Italian karateka Cıanı Mıchele (+84 kg) also finished the Premier League without a win, losing to Daıkhı Hocıne (Algeria, 1:8), Kvesıc Andjelo (Croatia, 0:1) and Gundog Umut Eren (Turkey, 3:4).

In the women’s competition, Nılsson Anna-Johanna (61 kg) won the silver medal. At the group stage, the Swedish karateka defeated Suchankova Ingrıda (Slovakia, 2:0), Ajaray Maryam (Belgium, 3:0) and Fernandez Osorıo Carlota (Spain, 1:2). In the quarterfinals, she broke the resistance of Peruvian Grande Alexandra (3:2), and in the semifinals she defeated Swiss representative Radjenovıc Nına (2:1). In the fight for gold, Nılsson lost to German Khamıs Reem (0:2), taking silver.

Mahjoub Wafa from Tunisia competed in the same category, winning the group against Zunıga Garcıa Indıra from Spain (3:0), but losing to Japanese Shımada Sarara (0:2).

The last of four stages of the Premier League this season will take place on May 31-02 June in the Moroccan city of Casablanca.