Hong Kong’s Mo Sheung Grace Lau defeated Spain’s Sandra Sanchez in female kata, Katrine Pedersen of Denmark defeated Azerbaijan’s Iryna Zaretska in the female kumite under-68 kilograms,  and China’s Asian champion Xiaoyan Yin, seeking a third gold of the season in the female kumite under-61kg, lost to France’s Leila Heurtault.

The 26-year-old karateka Grace Lau avenged her Dubai defeat by Sanchez as her performance of "Chatanyara Kunshaku" kata earned her gold by a split decision 3-2 in the Prince Moulay Abdellah Sports Hall.

"I am really happy because it is the first time that I win a gold medal this year," she said.

"I have reached the final day three times but I could never win, so I am very happy.

"In Dubai [in the final against Sandra Sanchez] I made a mistake, so today I just worked on my performance.

"I knew that I had to do my best if I wanted to win.

"This victory gives me the confidence to get the best results in the next competitions, such as the rest of the Karate 1-Premier League, the Asian Games and the World Championships."

Heurtault, the European under-21 champion in 2015, produced an impressive demonstration of offensive karate in her final, connecting with a late Yuko to win the bout against her Chinese opponent by 4-1.

Pedersen won her final bout against Zaretska in startling fashion, by 5-0.

Remarkably, Uzbekistan’s Sadriddin Saymatov was the only Grand Winner to succeed in Rabat.

The 20-year-old showed excellent form and took his first gold of the season following a forceful demonstration in male kumite under-60kg, beating Turkey’s Aykut Kaya by 4-1.

On a night of surprises, however, there was no wavering from Azerbaijan’s five-times world champion Rafael Aghayev.

With four medals in four appearances this year, Aghayev returned to top form after a season struggling with injuries.

He has taken gold in Karate 1-Premier League Dubai, and claimed a silver in Paris and a bronze in Rotterdam to lead the standings in the male kumite under-75kg.

He carried on in similar vein, winning his final against Dastonbek Otabolaev of Uzbekistan 3-0 by taking an early Yuko and finishing with a wazi-ari.

Spain suffered another shock defeat in the kata as men’s favourite Sergio Galan was beaten by split decision in favour of Turkey’s Ali Sofuoğlu.

Morocco had a home celebration as it won the men kata team event against Malaysia.

But the home women lost their team title match to Turkey.

There was frustration for home spectators as Khaoula Ouhammad was defeated in the female kumite under-50kg final by Japan’s Miho Miyahara after being disqualified for accumulated infractions.

Egypt ruled the categories of Male Kumite  under-67kg and Male Kumite under-84kg, providing all four finalists.

Ali Elsawy won gold in the under-67kg after beating Magdy Hanafi by 3-1.

In the under-84kg class the victory went to Ahmed Elmasry, who defeated teammate Mohamed Elkotby.

The female kumite under-55kg was the confrontation between Brazil’s 32-year-old Valeria Kumizaki and England’s Carla Burkitt, and it was the more experience karateka who won 2-0.

The final of the female kumite over-68kg was a repetition of the title-deciding bout of the Karate 1-Series A Guadalajara, with victory going to Finland’s Titta Keikanen over Spain’s Laura Palacio.

The competition finished with Mehdi Filali of France earning  victory in the male kumite  over-84kg.

The 20-year-old karateka beat Germany’s Jonathan Horne in the final by 4-2.

The Karate 1-Premier League is now due travel now to Istanbul for the fifth stop of the series on June 8 to 10.