Four finals for Uzbekistan in the AKF Senior Championships Tashkent 2019

The thrill of the quest to medals in Tashkent begun at the Sports Complex "Uzbekistan" with the first categories at stake. The competition was opened with Female Kata; Kiyou Shimizu of Japan and Lau Mo Sheung Grace of Hong Kong confirmed their favourite status taking the highest scores in the first pool.

The Male Kata category also saw favourites taking a stand. Three-time World champion and defending title-holder Ryo Kiyuna of Japan claimed the highest score of the first round while the other pool of the first round was topped by Heejun Park of Republic of Korea

The competition in Male Kata and Female Kata continues Saturday with the rest of the rounds.

The opening day also saw Miho Miyahara of Japan claiming star status. The current World champion qualified for the final of Female Kumite -50kg thus taking a step in her goal to retain the title. The 2018 continental champion beat Ranran Li of China 5-3 in semi-finals.

Her rival in the title-deciding bout will be Bakhriniso Babaeva of Uzbekistan who achieved the first success for the host country with her qualification to the final. It will be the second final ever for the promising karateka who surprised favourites and defeated Shiau-Shuang Gu of Chinese Taipei 5-0 in semi-finals. The second final spot for hosts was taken by Sevinch Rakhimova in Female Kumite -55kg. The Uzbek karateka upset Siti Nur Azwani Nor Azli of Malaysia 2-0 in semi-finals to make it to her first final in her second international appearance. The other finalist in this category is Travat Khaksar of Iran who beat opened the successful day for representatives of the powerhouse nation of the sport. 

Much to the celebration of fans of the organising country, local star Sadriddin Saymatov also took the flag of the host nation to the finals. The former Grand Winner who is the most promising Uzbek karateka did not disappoint and reached the last bout in Male Kumite -60kg after defeating Kuwait’s Abdullah Shaaban 5-4.

Saymatov will clash for gold against Kyrgyzstan’s Rafael Akbarov who shocked with his first qualification to a final in international competitions. The karateka from Kyrgyzstan beat China’s Boxiang An in semi-finals.

The outstanding performance of local karatekas today was wrapped up by Nodira Djumaniyazova who made it to the final of Female Kumite -68kg. The representative of the host country claimed a convincing 7-4 victory in semi-finals over Jou Chao of Chinese Taipei. Her rival in the final will be Ceyco Georgia Zefanya of Indonesia who upset favourite Kayo Someya of Japan in a sensational semi-final 12-8.