Sweden took its first ever two golds and a silver in the Junior WC in Jesolo, Italy, October 9-13. That placed Sweden as the fifth best nation in the competition. The squad consisted of 5 people and it is the most impressive Swedish exchange ever at a championship.
On Saturday, Agnes Nyman from Lidingö began the hunt for medals when she took Sweden’s first silver in the final for Juniors -48 kg. She put in an impressive performance, knocking out opponents from Colombia, Peru, Russia and Latvia. Unfortunately, she fell to the home fighter from Italy Ludovica Legittimo in the final.
She set the tone for future successes and showed that Sweden was to be reckoned with in the championship. Agnes is 16 years old and has previously also won gold in the Junior EC, several Youth League medals and a WC medal.
On Sunday, the first gold medal came when Anthony Vu, 18 years old from Katrineholm, won the men’s U21 Kata. On the way to the final, he defeated heavyweight nations such as Hong Kong, Germany, Turkey, Venezuela and Egypt. In the final he faced Roman Hrcka from Slovakia and won with 42.60 to 41.70. It was a historic victory as it was the first time that Sweden won a championship gold in Kata. It will be exciting to follow Anthony’s competitive career as a senior.
During the same day, we also saw Sophie Bao Bednarski, 19 years old from Motala, take another gold in U21 +68 kg. After knocking out competitors from Italy, Spain, Canada and Hungary, she was pitted against Daria Lushkova in the final. Sophie was down 2-0 but managed to turn the match phenomenally and eventually won 7-3. Sophie’s fine performance ended Sweden’s successful championship and placed the nation as fifth best. That too is a record.
Other competitors were Truls Larsson Erhardt (Kata cadet) and Taha Bechtioui (Kumite Junior). Unfortunately, they did not manage to reach the final, but still stood for fine efforts. Sweden also had a judging squad in place in the form of Kristina Milenkovic, Ove Viggedal, Javier Escalante and Franscesca Marquez. They too were responsible for fine performances during the week.
Chairman Ramon Malavé participated from the Swedish board. He also attended the WKF congress and meeting with the Nordic countries, as well as Sadik Sadik. Secretary General Sarah Wennerström was also present, she is also a board member of the World Karate Federation and chairperson of the WKF Women’s Commission.
Sweden has in recent years taken great strides on the karate scene and often takes home medals these days. It is impressive and we hope that our national team will continue to develop in that direction.
Read more about the Swedish National Karate Team
Also read about World Karate Championship In Venice
Source Karate Sweden
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