Sanchez emerged triumphant from a repeat of last year's World Championships final, defeating Shimizu by a narrow margin at the Salzburgarena.

The Spaniard also overcame the Japanese karateka at the Karate 1-Premier League in Dubai last month and stretched her winning record against Shimizu with another victory today.

Kazumasa Moto of Japan denied Spain a sweep of the kata events in Salzburg as he ousted World Championships silver medallist Damian Quintero in the final.

Ayaka Tadano also claimed gold for Japan as she defeated Iran's Sara Bahmanyar 2-0 in the women's under-60 kilograms kumite title decider.

The Iranian team recovered from Bahmanyar's loss to clinch two gold medals as Taravat Khaksar and Mahdi Khodabakhshi topped the podium in the women's under-55kg and men's under-84kg divisions.

Khaksar edged Chile's Valentina Toro 1-0 in their gold medal clash, while Khodabakhshi recorded an impressive 5-2 win over grand winner Ugur Aktas of Turkey to secure victory.

China's Xiaoyan Yin, last year's grand winner, returned to form with a 3-1 success against Japan's Yuki Kujuro in the final of the women's under-61kg competition.

Former world champion Alisa Buchinger of Austria also ended her wait for a major title as she dispatched Switzerland's Elena Quirici 6-1 in a one-sided under-68kg kumite gold medal bout.

Stefan Pokorny prevailed in the men's under-67kg category to deliver a second victory for Austria, overcoming Egypt's Ali Elsawy to the delight of the home crowd.

Azerbaijan's Asiman Gurbanli was a surprise winner in the men's over-84kg division.

Gurbanli cemented his status as a rising star by progressing through the rounds before he beat Iran's Saleh Abazari by decision in the final.

Kazakhstan's Darkhan Assadilov continued his recent run of success by taking the under-60kg crown following a narrow win by decision over Turkey's Eray Samdan.

The next Karate 1-Series A event is scheduled to be held in Istanbul from May 17 to 19.