(Photo WKF)
Gabrielle Henrique of Brazil headlined the Female Kata division with a composed and precise performance, defeating Belgium’s Chiara Manca 40.80 to 40.20. in the World Championships Qualification Tournament in Paris, France
Henrique’s strong display secured her spot among the six athletes in Female Kata, booking a trip to the World Championships.
On its opening day, the event handed out six coveted tickets per category in Female Kata, Male Kata, Female Kumite -50kg, and Male Kumite -75kg for the World Senior Championships to be held in Cairo, Egypt.
She was joined by Mexico’s Yaneth Quiroz Castillo, who defeated Serbia’s Neda Milosevic 38.80 to 38.00, and Sofia Fialkova of Slovakia, who topped Finland’s Bess Manty 39.10 to 38.30. Iran’s Fatemeh Sadeghi Dastak impressed with a sharp and fluid kata, defeating Chinese Taipei’s Chien Hui-Hsuan 40.30 to 38.80.
The remaining tickets went to Sakura Alforte of the Philippines, who beat Hungary’s Fabian Csenge Zita 39.80 to 37.70, and Shannon Leong Wai Yee of Singapore, who overcame Greece’s Georgia-Archontia Xenou 40.30 to 39.00.
In the Male Kata division, host nation favourite Thomas Klemz gave French fans many reasons to celebrate, narrowly defeating Varishan Bakirov (WKF-1) 40.50 to 40.40.
Jure Sluga of Slovenia also advanced, earning a solid win over Iran’s Mohammad Sadra Shidzi 40.50 to 38.70. Meanwhile, Howard Hung Ho Wai of Hong Kong, China produced a clean, powerful kata to defeat England’s James Harrison 40.00 to 38.80.
Germany’s Morris Tellocke beat Rick Sonnema of the Netherlands 40.10 to 38.70, as Roman Heydarov of Azerbaijan overcame Poland’s Maciej Kowalczyk 40.10 to 39.50. Completing the list, Roman Hrcka of Slovakia booked his Cairo ticket after defeating Ireland’s Anes Chaal 40.50 to 37.80.
Portugal’s Catarina Rodrigues battled to a thrilling 3-3 draw against Kazakhstan’s Aigerim Tursynbekova, advancing by decision to claim one of six Cairo spots in the Female Kumite -50kg category.
Insaf Bentama-Serrroukh Jebari of Spain followed with another tense 4-4 decision win over Poland’s Zuzanna Bernaciak. Thi Thu Nguyen of Vietnam moved on by ‘Hantei’ or decision after a scoreless draw (0-0) against Hong Kong China’s Tsang Yee Ting.
Greece’s Christina Triada Pappa showed dominance with a clear 4-0 win over WKF-2’s Ulyana Markava. Maya Schaerer of Switzerland delivered the day’s most striking result, overpowering England’s Niamh Lilly Cosgrove 10-2. The final ticket went to Teodora Tsaneva of Bulgaria, who narrowly beat the United Arab Emirates’ Hawraa Al Ajmi 2-1.
Italy’s Daniele De Vivo was in commanding form, taking a 5-0 win over Brazil’s Gabriel Nascimento to top the Male Kumite -75kg group. He was joined by Devid Nhuyen (WKF-2), who impressed with an 8-0 victory over Poland’s Lukasz Bankowski.
Armenia’s Suren Harutyunyan recorded one of the most dominant performances of the day, overpowering Korea’s An Gwangmin 10-1. Nario Lopes of Angola advanced after a tight 3-3 match against the Dominican Republic’s Carlos Antonio Herrera, prevailing on decision.
From the Netherlands, Ricardo Franken took a convincing 3-0 win over Albania’s Bekim Basha, while Sultan Alzahrani of Saudi Arabia closed the session with a narrow 1-0 victory against Georgia’s Valiko Poniava.
