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Youth Atop World Karate Ranking List

Iranian Karate squad finished fifth in the 10th World Junior, Cadet and U-21 Championships in Spain last week with ten medals in the Kata and Kumite categories
Hadiseh Jamal (L), Barbad Sedaghat (C) and Avishan Bagheri
Hadiseh Jamal (L), Barbad Sedaghat (C) and Avishan Bagheri

Iran’s young karatekas took the top spots in the latest World Karate Federation (WKF) ranking released after the 10th WKF Junior, Cadet and U21 Championships, Spain, October 2017.

More than 25 junior, cadet and U-21 karatekas from Iran are placed among the top ten lists of different weight categories and karate divisions such as Kata and Kumite classes. Nine are ranked in the first, second and third places of their categories.

In the U-21 female Kumite for the -50 kg category, Avishan Bagheri is placed atop WKF ranking list after receiving her gold medal at 10th WKF Junior, Cadet and U-21 Championships as the first Iranian female receiving a medal in the games.

Barbad Sedaqat holds the first rank in the -76 kg category. He won the gold medal of Spain championships in junior male Kumite for -76 kg category as the first gold winner of Iranian squad in the games. He also won the gold medal of 16 Asian Karate Federation (AKF) Cadet, Junior and U-21 championships in Kazakhstan, 2017.

Moreover, Hadiseh Jamal is the No. 1 female Karateka in Kata division. She grabbed the bronze medal in the Spain Championship and has gold from the 16th AKF championships held in Kazakhstan.

Another top rank in the list is heavy-weight Sajjad Ganjzadeh, male Kumite athlete in the +84 kg category. Although he is now playing in the senior category, but winning four gold and silver at the 6th World Junior and Cadet Karate Championships in Morocco 2009, WKF World Senior Championships in Germany 2014, AKF Senior Championships in Japan 2015, and WKF World Senior Championships in Austria 2016 has made him a hero among Iranian and global karatekas.

  Second Rank

Iranian junior male Kumite player Majid Nikoohemat came in second both in the  world ranking and also Spain WKF Championships of +76 kg. He took silver at the Asian Karate Federation (AKF) Cadet, Junior and U-21 championships in Kazakhstan.

Another male Kumite player, Erfan Davoudi holds second place in the WKF ranking in the -63 kg category. Although he finished fifth in  Spain, he won gold in the Kazakh AKF Championships.

Sara Bahmanyar, the U-21 female Kumite player from the -50 kg category, has secured second place in the WKF ranking by grabbing a silver medal in the Spain WKF Championships as well as in the Kazakhstan AKF event. Earlier she won two bronze at the 15th & 16th AKF U-21, Junior and Cadet Championships both held in Indonesia, 2015 and 2016.

Kazakhstan AKF Championships gold winner, Shabnam Vahedi, left the Spain WKF championships empty handed. Holding the fifth place and winning the gold medal in Kazakhstan, Vahedi is second in the U-21 female Kumite for +68 kg weight category.

  Third Place

Spain WKF Championships gold medal winner for male U-21 Kumite in -84 kg, Mahdi Ghararizadeh, is third in the WKF ranking. He won silver and bronze in Kazakhstan AKF championships and the 2015 Indonesia AKF Championships in his career.

The Iranian Karate squad finished fifth in the 10th World Junior, Cadet and U-21 Championships, Spain last week bagging ten medals in Kata and Kumite categories. Japan with 18 medals including 10 gold medals was crowned as the champion. Egypt, Turkey and the host country took the second to fourth places respectively.

Kata, is a Japanese word describing detailed patterns of movements practiced either solo or in pairs. Karate Kata are executed as a specified series of a variety of moves, with stepping and turning, while attempting to maintain perfect form.

The Kata is not intended as a literal depiction of a mock fight, but as a display of transition and flow from one posture and movement to another, teaching the student proper form and position, and encouraging them to visualize different scenarios for the use of each motion and technique.

In Kumite category practitioners use the techniques of Kata in a one-to-one combat. Both classes are played both individually and in groups.

 

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