The 2024 world karate season opened in Athens, where the first Series A tournament was held on January 12-14.
Rosenlind Matilda (55 kg) performed most successfully, winning a bronze award. The Swedish karateka started with a victory over Bergant Laura (Slovenia, 2:0), then beat Uygur Umay (Turkey, 5:0) and Bitsch Mia (Germany, 2:1). In the semi-finals, Rosenlind Matilda lost to Stoli Maria (Greece, 2:4), but in the fight for third place she lost to Negovanovic Brankica (Serbia, 0:2).
There were interesting competitions in other categories as well. At the stage of the 1/8 finals in the heavy category +68 kg, representatives of “Budo Nord” met: Swede Bao Bednarski Sophie and Swiss Kadoic Mia. On the way to the 1/8 finals, Bao Bednarski defeated the Italian De Gregory Chiara (4:0) and L. Hiver Margot from France (1:0), and Kadoic upset the Austrian Schuetze Emma (4:1). In the battle between Sweden and the Swiss, the Swedes won (5:2), reaching the quarterfinals. At this stage, Bao Bednarski lost to Krešić Stefani from Bosnia and Herzegovina in a very stubborn match – 2:2. Subsequently, the opponent failed to reach the final, and the Swedish karateka was unable to take advantage of the chance to move on to the repechage bouts.
In the men’s competition, the fight turned out to be quite intense for Hurskyi Ruslan. The Ukrainian started with a difficult victory over the Englishman Walters Devante (2:1), and then had an equally difficult fight with Scarscelli Matteo, in which the judges gave him victory over Hantei. Next, HurskyI defeated the Kazakh Tarnakin Nikita, but lost to Abazari Saleh in the quarterfinals (0:3). The Iranian karateka subsequently became the winner of Serie A, and the Ukrainian tried his luck in the repechage matches. But already in the first he lost to Sagilyan Eduard from the USA. The fight ended in a draw, but Hantei ended up on the opponent’s side.
Pereira Leonardo chalked up one victory. The Portuguese was able to beat the Turk Gemici Savaskan (0:2), and then Rexhepi Mirlind from Kosovo. It was a rare case when the score in the fight was not open, but the judges gave preference to the Kosovan, who advanced to the next round.
The largest number of karatekas using equipment from «Budo-Nord» is registered in men’s kumite weighing up to 84 kg. One of them is Ukrainian Buhaiov Maksym. He started with a victory over Romanian Ienscu Stefan Alexandru (5:0), but in the next round he lost to Diop Sally from France with a difference of one point – 1:2.
In turn, Swede Haag Jimmy limited himself to one fight. Although in a certain situation he could have beaten the Serbian representative Pejovic Ugles, he lost with a score of 1:2. The same score was recorded in the fight between Haag Ozzy and Spasenovski Petar. The Swedish karateka carried out several promising attacks, but lost to his opponent from North Macedonia – 2:3.
In the up to 75 kg weight category, Haag Ricky won one fight. The Swedish karateka started with a victory over the Croatian Stimac Stjepan (4:0), and then lost to Mikulic Nemanja.
Another Swedish athlete representing «Budo Nord» performed quite successfully in Series A. We are talking about Noori Nematollah (60 kg), who did not give a single point to his opponents in the first two fights. First, thanks to Hantei, he beat the Italian Agus Mario, and then won big against Cirlan Valentin from Romania (9:0). But then he lost to the Brazilian Nascimento Rafael – 0:8.
Alnmer Mohammed (67 kg) was limited to one meeting in Athens. The Swede lost to the Austrian Nitz Andreas – 2:3. The second of three Serie A tournaments this season will take place on February 16-18 in Larnaca (Cyprus).
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