With almost 1,000 athletes from 68 countries competing in front of a packed crowd, the event was a great advert for a sport currently striving for Olympic inclusion at Tokyo 2020, with the name of the venue a further indication of Olympic ambitions. 

France, always a strong karate nation, led from the front on home turf, with Alexandra Recchia in the under 50 kilogram kumite division, Alizee Agier in the under 68kg category and over 68kg heavyweight Nadege Ait Ibrahim all taking gold.

There was a further victory courtesy of a men's kata trio consisting of Lucas Jeannot, Enzo Montarello and Ahmed Zemouri, while the hosts also claimed three silver and five bronze medals.

France celebrate their team kata success at the Karate1 Premier League ©FFKDA



But Egypt also continued their remarkable upward progression in the sport, with Yassmin Attia and reigning world champion Giana Lotfy taking female titles in the respective under 55kg and under 61kg categories.

Magdy Hanafy and Osama Mansour did likewise in the men's under 67 and over 84kg events.

Elsewhere, there were two victories for Japan in individual kata events, courtesy of Issei Shimbaba and Emiri Iwamoto, while Italy, Iran, The Netherlands and Russia were others to feature on the top step of the podium.

More information on all the action in Paris can be found here. 

The next leg of the Premier League series is due to be held in Almere, The Netherlands, on February 14 and 15, before further events in Egypt and Brazil.

After a short break, the Series moves to Istanbul on September 5 and 6, followed by Hanua, Germany on September 26 and 27 and Salzburg, Austria from October 17 and 18, before finishing in Okinawa, Japan on November 28 and 29.

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