WKF Premier League Day 2 Results

Jan. 27 marked the second day of competition at the WKF Premier League in Paris.

China’s Xiaoyan Yin was one of the standouts in kumite on this day, winning all of her bouts with a cumulative score of 10-2 and advancing to the finals of the -61kg division for Female Kumite. Her opponent in the final will be the defending U21 world champion, 18-year-old Gwendoline Philippe. Philippe won all four of her bouts, with her highlight of the day coming from a semi-final showdown with teammate and current World Championships silver medallist Lucie Ignace. Philippe connected with three ippon, including a mawashi-geri, to win 10-0.

Mehdi Filali of France, at 18 years old, reached his first final, securing a place in the final of the +84kg division for Male Kumite. His will face Sajad Ganjzadeh of Iran, who reaches his first final since the Premier League event in Dubai last year. Ganjzadeh produced quite an offensive showing, dominating his five opponents on this day by a total score of 23-4.

Meanwhile, in the -68kg weight class of Female Kumite, Alize Agieer defeated Spain’s Cristina Vizcaino 1-0, bringing the 2014 World champion one step closer to her third gold in the Karate 1-Premier League. Her opponent will be Japan’s Kayo Somey, the Asian champion who beat Denmark’s Katrine Pedersen by 5-0 in the semifinals.

In the kata portion of the competition, Japan’s Ryo Kiyuna qualified for his 14th consecutive final in international competitions by winning all of his bouts via unanimous decision. His opponent will be Yi-Ta Wang of Chinese Taipei, a 26-year-old karateka who has never qualified for a gold medal-deciding bout before. The current Asian Championships bronze medallist defeated top favorites Damian Quintero of Spain and Antonio Diaz of Venezuela.

Meanwhile, 19-year-old Ahmed Elmasry of Egypt qualified it to his first final in two appearances in senior international competitions, as he will take on Iran’s Zabiollah Poorshab in the -84kg of Male Kumite.