Spitz fought off competition from Faruk Sijercic of Bosnia and Herzegovina to seal the title to the delight of the Swiss fans, as Azerbaijan's Hummat Bakhshaliyev and Merlin-Leo Schäfer of Germany claimed bronze.

Another home athlete in the form of Kol Kabashi also enjoyed success at the event as he won the cadet kumite male under 70kg event.

However, the best performances of the day came from Turkish athletes as they clinched gold in three categories.

Mehmet Batuhan Özdemir triumphed in the male cadet kata event, while Samed Gok ousted England's Mitchell Thorpe to take the cadet kumite male under 63kg crown.

Turkey's fruitful day was complete when Emre Vefa Goktas won the male junior kata division by virtue of a victory over Kieran Nunkoo of England.

Italy's athletes also produced good performances as they claimed two golds thanks to Samuele Marchese, who beat Tommy Azouz in the cadet kumite male under 57kg class, before team mate Terryana D'Onofrio reigned supreme in the under-21 kata women's division.

Elsewhere, France took one gold after Enzo Montarello won the men's under-21 kata category, but three of their karatekas suffered final defeats and had to settle for silver.

Slovakia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sweden and Macedonia all claimed victory in one division, as did Ukraine on a bumper day of action.

The Championships in Zurich will see 47 countries represented across the three-day event, with 924 competitors due to take part.

There are 35 different categories for male and female, divided into three major age groups: cadet, junior and under-21.

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