Young karatekas aim for the top

Continuing their final preparation camp at the Turkish Olympic Preparation Center in Kocaeli ahead of the event to be held in Venice, Italy, between October 9-13, the National Karate Team will participate in the championship with 13 athletes in kata and 29 in kumite. Focusing on strength and endurance during the first 20-day camp period, the national team is continuing its technical and tactical work with two training sessions per day in the second camp period.

The national athletes will depart for Italy on October 7 after the camp, which ends on October 6.

Having finished second behind Japan in the championship hosted by Konya in 2022, Turkey aims to reach the top in Venice.

Açıkyol: "The squad is very dynamic and hungry for success"

Soner Açıkyol, a member of the Technical Committee of the Turkish Karate Federation, told an AA reporter that they held their first and second preparation camps in Kocaeli.

Stating that they focused on strength, conditioning, and mostly basic infrastructure work during the first camp period, Açıkyol noted that the second camp period was spent entirely on technical and tactical work.

Underlining that the athletes arrived ready and are in very good physical condition, Açıkyol said, "We have athletes in 29 different categories in kumite. We have very successful athletes who have previously achieved rankings in Europe and the world. The squad is very dynamic and hungry for success. We hope to turn this into an advantage and achieve a good ranking in the general classification, God willing."

Stating that they aim to be in the top three in the general ranking, Açıkyol said, "We were second in the general ranking in Konya two years ago. This situation places a responsibility on us. Becoming world champion will be a real success for us this time. We currently have no injuries. If everything goes well, we will be world champions with this squad."

Yavaşoğlu: "We are aiming for the general classification championship"

Kata National Team Technical Director Kaan Yavaşoğlu noted that they started the second camp period, where technical and tactical work is carried out, after a 4-day break.

Stating that they have made all the plans to carry the athletes to the top of the podium in the championship, Yavaşoğlu stated that they will represent Turkey in Italy with 42 athletes in both kata and kumite.

"We are a team that finished second in the world in the general ranking at the World Cadet, Junior and U21 Karate Championships held in Konya in 2022. God willing, we are a team aiming for the world championship in the general classification this time. We have athletes who have been successful in Europe before and new talents. Our coaching staff is quite experienced. The coaches who raised these young people have great experience. We have the prayers of all the parents who put effort into them and our community with us. God willing, we are aiming for the general classification championship."

Yavaşoğlu also stated that Kocaeli is a city that loves karate and that they were offered wonderful facilities there, and thanked the Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality and the Kocaeli Provincial Directorate of Youth and Sports for their support.