The international WKF karate 1 season has started in Tbilisi. It was in the capital of Georgia that the debut stage of Series A took place, bringing together a record-breaking line-up.
The season can be considered officially open, and the turnout for the first start of the year was as high as possible. The World Karate Federation announced that a record number of countries and participants took part in the A-series competition. Namely 1100 athletes from 87 countries. Previously, the maximum number of participants in such tournaments was 942 karatekas from 73 countries.
The competition took place at the Sports Palace in Tbilisi, and it must be said that this is the second time that Georgia has hosted major karate competitions. Last year, the European Championship among cadets, juniors and youth under 21 was held here. Moreover, Serie A is becoming increasingly important this season as teams compete for a place in the Top 32 of the world rankings, which gives them the right to play in the Premier League and directly compete for a place in the World Championship. Therefore, Tbilisi assembled a fairly strong team, and the largest was brought by the Iranian team – 146 karatekas. The second largest team is Turkiye, with 112 participants.
Fohlinska Vira won the silver medal in the 68 kg category. The Ukrainian karateka began with a victory over Cichoszewska Natasza (Poland, 5:0), then won over Achrash Sahar (Iran, 3:2), and a victory over Molnar Elizabeta (Slovenia, 1:0) brought her to the quarterfinals. Foklinska also looked quite confident in the main draw of the playoffs. In the quarterfinals, she beat Aldrous Joud (JOR) by one point (5:4), and in the semifinals, she beat Kavyanicherati Mobina Khoshkalam (IRI) by 3:2.
The final against Egamberdieva Bonu (UZB) turned out to be tense. Her opponent earned the only point, and Foklinskaya was awarded silver. For the Ukrainian, this is her first success in the elite – last year she won bronze at the Youth League in Venice.
In the +68 kg weight category, Bao Bednarski Sophie won the bronze medal. The Swede began the second round with a victory over Schutze Emma (AUT, 2:1), and then knocked Mironova Tatiana out of the competition (AIN, 3:2). In the quarterfinals, Bao Bednarski, due to her activity, proved stronger than Khakimjhonova Mokhlaroyim (UZB), but in the semifinals she lost to Kydonaki Kyriaki (Greece) with a difference of six points – 0:6. However, she managed to take advantage of her chance for bronze by winning the Pergolesi Asia (ITA) medal match 3-0.
This is Sophie’s first award at the elite level. Last year she won the World Under-21 Championship in Venice and also took first place at the Youth League stage in Poreč.
Haag Jimmy (84 kg) also scored ranking points. The Swedish athlete first confidently beat Seckar Simon (SVK, 4:0), and then won by one point against
Deutsch Pascal (GER, 3:2). In his third appearance at the dayang, Haag lost to Gasparian Eduard (AIN, 2:10), but earned the right to participate in the consolation matches. However, already in the first of them, in a tense struggle, he lost to Confiac Hendrick (France) with a difference of one point (3:4) and ultimately took 11th place.
In the overall Series A standings, the Iranian team took first place, winning six gold medals. The Japanese and Turks won two victories each, and karatekas from Egypt, Uzbekistan, Greece and neutral athletes won one gold each.
Finally, let us add that this year Series A consists of four tournaments. After Tbilisi, stages will be held in Larnaca (Cyprus), Salzburg (Austria) and Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia).
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2025 Karate 1-Series A Tbilisi
Karate1 TBILIS – FINALS SUNDAY | WORLD KARATE FEDERATION
Also read about Karate 1 Youth League in Venice, Italy | Martial Art News
And World Karate Cup 2024 in Pamplona, Spain | Martial Art News
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