Turkey is European Karate champion with most medals

By Sahin Oktay

KOCAELI, Turkey (AA) - Turkey has claimed the gold medal in Sunday's team categories of Europe's Senior Karate Championship.

The 52nd EKF Senior Championships was held in the northwestern Turkish province of Kocaeli between May 4-7.

On the last day of competition, Turkish national team formed by Enes Erkan, Ugur Aktas, Gokhan Gunduz, Ridvan Kaptan, Serkan Yagci, Alparslan Yamanoglu and Muhammet Ali Yilmaz clashed with France.

The last fight ended with a victory for Turkey, which ended as the most successful team at the 2017 European Karate event.

Turkish Karate team was awarded a total of 4 gold, 4 silver, and 6 bronze medals, making it the most awarded delegation in the competition.

On Saturday, Ugur Aktas, 21, won gold after defeating Berat Jakupi of Macedonia in the 84 kilogram category in the tournament final.

In female category, Tuba Yakan of Turkey defeated former world champion Sara Cardin of Italy and thus claimed gold. The 25 year-old karateka was competing in the 55 kg category.

Also, 22-year-old Burak Uygur, who was competing in the kumite 67 kg category, received a gold medal by defeating Alexandr Gutnik of Russia.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan congratulated the Turkish team on winning medals in all categories.

Next year, Serbia will be the host country for the annual European Karate event.