Berens earned an excellent win at the Topsportcentrum venue as he beat Georgia's David Tkebuchava in the final to earn the hosts' only gold on a day that was once again largely dominated by the imperious French karatekas.

Lucie Ignace took victory in the female kumite under 61kg category with a win over Ingrid Suchánková of Slovakia, and the French went on to clinch another two golds.

Anne-Laure Florentin was then victorious in the over 68kg kumite division, before Kenji Grillon capped off a fruitful day for France by beating Ugur Aktas of Turkey to take gold in the men's under 84kg kumite class.

As well as the successes for the trio, the French, who were also the dominant force at the first Karate 1 Premier League Series on home soil in Paris last month, picked up four bronze medals.

Alexandra Recchia could not quite defend her under 50kg kumite category crown as she claimed third, and Lucile Breton repeated the feat in the under 61kg class.

In the men's competition, Steven Dacosta clinched bronze in the male kumite under 67kg event, and Logan Da Costa emerged from the under 75kg tournament with a third-place finish.

Italy and Austria were the only two other countries to win more than one gold, and both Italian triumphs came in the team events as they won the male and female kata divisions.

Austrian Alisa Buchinger reigned supreme to win the under 68kg, which came after Bettina Plank had secured a surprise victory to take gold in the under 50kg class.

On a packed weekend of action, which saw 600 competitors from 51 countries compete at the Lotto Dutch Open, Germany, United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Spain and the Dominican Republic all left Almere with one gold each.

The Karate 1 Premier League Series continues on February 28 with the next leg in Egypt, before the prestigious series moves to 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games host city Rio de Janeiro on May 30 and 31.

Istanbul, Germany and Austria will also host legs in 2015 before the eight event series is scheduled to climax in Okinawa, Japan, on November 28 and 29.

A full list of results can be found here.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
February 2015: Karate 1 Premier League Series in Almere set to begin
January 2015: France dazzle in Paris as Karate 1 Premier League season begins
January 2015: World's best gear up for season opening Karate 1 Premier League Paris
December 2014: Egypt and Brazil added to Karate1 Premier League Series as WKF release calendar for 2015
November 2014: France and Egypt lead medals table at Karate World Championships