The new Premier League season will start of the best ways in Paris this week, with the impressive record of 912 athletes registered from 68 countries, among which the top karatekas of the world.
Paris (France) will be the host of the first Karate 1 Premier League of the season. The event will be held in the Pierre de Courbertin stadium on 23rd, 24th and 25th of January.
The Paris Open was one of the first events to join the Premier League, and has since this time become very popular as a starting point of the season. This year however will be remarkable, both in terms of quantity of registered athletes and in terms of outstanding level of the participants.
At this major event, taking place less than 2 months before the European Senior Championships (qualifying athletes for the first European Games in Baku next June), all the male and female Karatekas of the French national team will be on the Tatamis, as well as Egypt and Japan (world leaders in Bremen last November), Germany, Italy, Mexico,… and other national teams from all over the world.
Many of world top athletes, such as Giana Lofty (Egypt), Enes Erkan (Turkey), Luigi Busa (Italy), Serap Ozcelik(Turkey),Gogita Arkania (Georgia), Alizee Agier (France), Sara Cardin (Italy), Kayo Someya (Japan), but also Rafael Aghayev(Azerbaijan) who will do his comeback to competition and also a number of world medalists will also be present.
All those competitors are ready to propose a competition of an outstanding level. The most contested categories will be Kata individual male with 123 athletes from 38 nations and kumite male -67kg with 115 fighters from 40 nations.
Programme:
Friday January 23
15:00 -20.00 Individual Kata (Male-Female) – Elimination & Repechages
20:00 -21:30 Team Kata (Male-Female) – Elimination & Repechages
Saturday January 24
08:30 – 10:00 Male Kumite -60 Kg – Elimination & Repechages
10:00 – 12:00 Female Kumite -50 Kg & -68 Kg – Elimination & Repechages
12:00 – 15:00 Male Kumite -75 Kg – Elimination & Repechages
15:00 – 18:00 Male Kumite -84 Kg – Elimination & Repechages
18:00 – 19:00 Female Kumite -55kg – Elimination & Repechages
19:00 – 21:00 Male Kumite +84 Kg – Elimination & Repechages
Sunday January 25
8:30 – 11:30 Male Kumite -67 Kg – Elimination & Repechages
11:30 -13:30 Female Kumite -61kg & +68kg – Elimination & Repechages
15:30 – 18:00 FINALS FOR ALL CATEGORIES
The list of participants and real time results can be followed on the WKF website: http://www.wkf.net/karate1-paris-2015.php
Live stream:
The Finals will be broadcasted live on L’Equipe 21, the most important sports TV channel in France
More information can be found on the official accounts of the event:
Web: evenementsffkarate.fr
Facebook: www.facebook.com/OpenParisKarate
Twitter: www.twitter.com/ffkarate (please use the official hastag #OpenParis2015)
Press registration: presse.ffkarate.fr/accreditation-presse/