The ASD Tropheum Karate Club returns with a rich and varied medal list from the Open International Karate Championship in Messina, an event signed by the World United Karate-do Federation Italia (WUKF) and organized in collaboration with the Italian delegation of the World Federation Kenpo Styles United (WFKSU). The event, hosted at PalaRescifina on Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd February, brought together athletes not only from all over Italy but also from Uzbekistan, Romania, Serbia, Croatia and Slovakia, offering young people from Vibo an important opportunity for technical and competitive growth.
Led by Maestro IV Dan Antonio La Torre, the 10 athletes of the Tropheum played 14 races, which turned into around twenty matches between preliminaries and finals. An intense journey, which brought the karateka of the “red and black dragon” several times to the three steps of the podium (in total: 4 gold medals, 2 silver and 3 bronze).
In the Kata, Children U9 category, little Joseph Barritta performs with the Bassai Dai and easily obtains the first gold medal of the expedition. In the Children U12 it was Domenico Pontoriero’s turn to achieve third place and add a bronze to his personal tally. Moving on to the Cadets, Lorenzo Pontoriero also gained his international experience by facing three WUKF Italia athletes as well as the Uzbek from ITKF in a particularly competitive category.
Remaining in Kata, but moving on to the female categories, Chloe Tavella dominated the Children U10 green-blue belts, with first place and the gold medal, while Amelia Ostone obtained silver in the same category, in the group reserved for white to orange belts.
In the men’s Kumite many confirmations, some surprises and many Rossoneri finals. For the Children U8 category, a good performance for Samuele La Torre, who stopped in the quarterfinals and finished in sixth place, ahead of a Romanian athlete. The young La Torre challenged an opponent hard who then obtained the silver in the category. In the Children U9, a great performance by Joseph Barritta, who in the final beat an opponent from the Romanian team, who up to that point had achieved two clear victories over as many opponents, 4-1. But Barritta managed to get the better of him in the final, finishing all his matches 4-2 and winning his second gold medal, this time with a heart-pounding victory. For the U12 category the young Domenico Pontoriero wins bronze ex aequo with a Slovakian athlete. Lorenzo Pontoriero stood out in the Cadets, finishing the race in fifth place. Finally, same placing in the Veterans category, in which there was the absolute debut with the Tropheum for Antonio Maria Deiorgi.
Moving on to women’s Kumite, in the Children U10 category final all by Asd Tropheum: Chloe Tavella beats a Slovakian athlete 4-0, while Amelia Ostone beats the athlete of the WUKF Italia team with the same score. Then, in the final, Tavella won again 4-0 and won the gold, leaving Ostone with an excellent silver. In the Children U11, Tirsa De Seta was a little unlucky, stopping in the quarterfinals against a dominating Slovakian opponent and winner of the category, while Maria Laura Ortelio was also eliminated by the other finalist in the category, still finishing with a bronze medal.
The general classification sees a dominance of WUKF Italia, whose athletes make up the largest group in the race. But there are many realities on the podium, with various companies from all over Europe: the Italian Karate Sports Federation, the Unione Karate Do Italia, the World Karate Association and Discipline Associate, the WUKA Italia & DA, the Calabrian Ciccio Mollo’s Gym, and the Sicilian Karate Shotokan Modica for Italy, the Etsia Athlets Team, the Yu Karate Do and the Vojvodinian Karate Union from Croatia, the CS Karate Chitila, Clubul Sportiv Chitila and Asociatia Club Sportiv Atletic Bucovina from Romania (members of FR Karate WUKF Romania), Karaate FKS Prievidza, Karate Blue Team and Karate Kickbox Klub Pezinok from Slovakia (members of the Slovak Federation of Karate and Martial Arts), the International Traditional Karate do Federation of Uzbekistan.
A rich and international panorama that confirms the technical value of the event and the Tropheum’s ability to compete with high-level realities.