Takamasa Yatoji of Japan became the name everyone was talking at the Karate 1-Youth League in Venice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 15-year-old Japanese karateka delivered one of the most impressive performances of the event, winning gold in both kata and kumite. With athletes usually focusing on one discipline in today\u2019s karate scene, Yatoji broke that trend in style, taking two titles within minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI am very, very happy! I’m delighted that all my training has paid off in this result,\u201d the young karateka said after taking the two gold medals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yatoji\u2019s day began in the Cadet Male Kata competition. There, he beat Corsin Dion L\u00fcthy of Switzerland 23.60 to 22.00, followed by a 23.50 to 20.40 win over Andrej Kistner of Germany. He closed the early rounds with a 23.60 to 22.40 victory against David Faic of Croatia.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the quarterfinals, he delivered another upset, defeating Romania\u2019s George Florea Razvan 24.70 to 24.00. He then powered through the semifinals by beating Ireland\u2019s Calvin Mc Cann 25.00 to 23.70. In the gold-medal match, Yatoji produced his best score of the day, overcoming Edmond Zhuo of the United States 25.80 to 24.30.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPersonally, I prefer sparring, but kata is important too. I practise kata and sparring every day,\u201d said the Japanese future star who competed in the finals of both Kata and Kumite within minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yatoji began practising karate when he was seven years old. His calm focus in Venice showed the maturity of someone far beyond his age. His accomplishment is even more impressive given that he had already claimed gold in both Kata and Kumite at the opening event of the season in the Karate 1-Youth League in Fujairah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOne day I would like to become world champion in both kata and kumite,\u201d he said with the two gold medals in hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Venice, at the most massive event of the year, he took a big step toward that dream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the Cadet Kumite -63 kg division. He opened with a strong 9\u20131 win over Milan Fejer of Hungary. He stayed sharp in the next matches, beating Kyrylo Tada of Ukraine 10\u20132 and then Miguel Mour\u00e3o of Portugal 4\u20130 in the pool round. In the semifinals, he kept full control and earned an 8\u20130 victory against Spain\u2019s Rodrigo Garcia. In the final, he upset Latvia\u2019s Marks Zakmans 6\u20133 to claim his first gold of the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, the championships closed with the Under-14 competitions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
U14 Kumite Female -42 kg: Emmanouela Foteini Vasilopoulou Claims Gold<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Greece\u2019s Emmanouela Foteini Vasilopoulou won an action-packed final in the -42 kg category. She defeated Ukraine\u2019s Yeva Kholod 8\u20136 in a fast match where both traded points until the last seconds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n U14 Kumite Female -47 kg: Fatima Azahra Chakir Triumphs at Home<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Italy\u2019s Fatima Azahra Chakir delighted the local crowd with a strong 9\u20134 win over Romania\u2019s Miruna Coman. Chakir controlled the bout early and kept the distance well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n U14 Kumite Female -52 kg: Ivanna Sotnikova Takes the Crown<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Ukraine\u2019s Ivanna Sotnikova earned a clean 2\u20130 victory against Luxembourg\u2019s Lena El Meskiri. Sotnikova scored early and then held her ground to claim the title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n U14 Kumite Female +52 kg: Tesa Balog Dominates for Gold<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Croatia\u2019s Tesa Balog delivered one of the strongest performances of the day. She defeated the United States\u2019 Victoria Morris-Zutler 8\u20130 with speed and accuracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n U14 Kumite Male -40 kg: Norik Makaryan Secures the Title<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Armenia\u2019s Norik Makaryan won the -40 kg final with a 4\u20131 victory over Turkmenistan\u2019s Muhammetoraz Gulov. Makaryan stayed in control throughout the match and used well-timed counters to earn the win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n U14 Kumite Male -45 kg: Oleksandr Shmidov Wins with Authority<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Ukraine\u2019s Oleksandr Shmidov claimed a clear 6\u20130 win over Danylo Hrebenozhko. Shmidov\u2019s control made the difference in a one-sided final.<\/p>\n\n\n\n U14 Kumite Male -50 kg: Bohdan Marysenko Prevails by Decision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In a tense and tactical bout, Ukraine\u2019s Bohdan Marysenko defeated compatriot Nikita Molchanov by hantei<\/em> after a 0\u20130 draw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n U14 Kumite Male -55 kg: Vuk Dragojevic Dominates His Final<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Montenegro\u2019s Vuk Dragojevic produced a powerful performance to beat Greece\u2019s Michail Kampanos 9\u20131. Dragojevic\u2019s pace and offensive rhythm proved too much for his opponent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n U14 Kumite Male +55 kg: Petar Filipovic Earns Solid Victory<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Croatia\u2019s Petar Filipovic took the +55 kg title with a 4\u20130 win against Ukraine\u2019s Anatolii Ustinov. Filipovic controlled the tempo and scored with clean techniques.<\/p>\n\n\n\n U14 Kata Female: Ux\u00eda Folgueira Gonz\u00e1lez Wins with Precision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Spain\u2019s Ux\u00eda Folgueira Gonz\u00e1lez claimed the kata crown after scoring 25.2 against Portugal\u2019s Carolina Cardoso, who finished with 23.9. Folgueira Gonz\u00e1lez displayed sharp stances and strong rhythm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n U14 Kata Male: Jorge Lle\u00f3 de Smet Takes All-Spain Final<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Spain dominated again as Jorge Lle\u00f3 de Smet won the male kata final with 24.9 points. Fellow Spaniard Iv\u00e1n Aguilar P\u00e9rez followed at 23.7. Lle\u00f3 de Smet impressed with control and clean execution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Takamasa Yatoji of Japan became the name everyone was talking at the Karate 1-Youth League in Venice. The<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6946,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[38],"class_list":["post-6945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","tag-karate"],"aioseo_notices":[],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Takamasa-Yatoji_compressed-1.jpg",1200,743,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Takamasa-Yatoji_compressed-1-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Takamasa-Yatoji_compressed-1-300x186.jpg",300,186,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Takamasa-Yatoji_compressed-1-768x476.jpg",640,397,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Takamasa-Yatoji_compressed-1-1024x634.jpg",640,396,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Takamasa-Yatoji_compressed-1.jpg",1200,743,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Takamasa-Yatoji_compressed-1.jpg",1200,743,false],"morenews-large":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Takamasa-Yatoji_compressed-1-825x575.jpg",825,575,true],"morenews-medium":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Takamasa-Yatoji_compressed-1-590x410.jpg",590,410,true]},"author_info":{"info":["admin"]},"category_info":"International<\/a>","tag_info":"International","comment_count":"0","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Takamasa-Yatoji_compressed-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6945","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6945"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6945\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6947,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6945\/revisions\/6947"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6946"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}