(Photo WKF)
Host nation Philippines delighted the home crowd with two gold medals on the closing day of the Karate One Youth League in Manila.
The Philippines celebrated the first of its two gold medals through Kathleya Ealaine Bustamante in the U14 Kumite Female -47kg. Bustamante earned a confident 6-2 victory over Australia’s Ana Jovic to win the title.
The second gold medal for the Philippines came from Franzcis Erl Jud Abundo in the U14 Kumite Male -40kg category. Abundo impressed the Manila crowd with a commanding 7-0 victory over Brunei’s Wan Azlee Khairi Bin Wan Zuraimi in the final.
U14 Kata Female
Japan’s Kyoka Okamoto claimed the gold medal after a strong 5-0 victory over the Philippines ‘ Alexa Rae Vallesteros in the final. Okamoto delivered a precise performance to secure the title, while Vallesteros earned an important silver medal for the hosts.
U14 Kata Male
Saudi Arabia celebrated gold in the male kata division through Moayad Alqahtani. In one of the closest finals of the day, Alqahtani edged Dean Caleb Montalbo of the Philippines by a 3-2 score to take the top place on the podium.
U14 Kumite Female -42kg
Varvara Chumachenko of WKF-1 dominated the final of the female -42kg category. Chumachenko defeated Saudi Arabia’s Ritan Mobarki 6-1 with an effective attacking display to secure the gold medal.
U14 Kumite Female -52kg
Romania’s Miruna Coman captured the gold medal in the female -52kg division. Coman controlled the final against Vasilisa Akimova of WKF-1 and secured a 3-0 victory.
U14 Kumite Female 52+kg
Croatia’s Tesa Balog finished on top of the podium in the female 52+kg category. Balog defeated Kazakhstan’s Aiaru Kalysbek by 6-3 in an active final with both athletes producing strong offensive performances.
U14 Kumite Male +55kg
Saudi Arabia added another gold medal through Moneer Alshamrani in the male +55kg division. Alshamrani delivered one of the most dominant performances of the day, defeating Indonesia’s Akhtar Arsad Wibawa 9-1 in the final.
U14 Kumite Male -45kg
Artem Krokhta of WKF-1 secured the gold medal in the male -45kg division after defeating Thailand’s Hassathorn Taychachaiwongse 3-0 in the final bout.
U14 Kumite Male -50kg
Kyrgyzstan celebrated success through Danil Khvan in the male -50kg category. Khvan earned a solid 4-0 victory against Hong Kong China’s Oswin Chin-Chun Lam to take the gold medal.
U14 Kumite Male -55kg
Ilia Lomaev of WKF-1 closed the competition with victory in the male -55kg division. Lomaev defeated France’s Luka Rugies 2-0 in a tactical final to secure the last gold medal of the event.
The final day in Manila concluded another successful stop of the 2026 Karate One Youth League season, highlighting the international reach of youth karate and the emergence of promising young athletes from all continents. The Karate One Youth League travels now to Porec, Croatia where the fourth stop of the season will take place from July 2 to 5.
