By Gary Anderson

The WKF Premier League Grand Final is set for Salzburg this weekend ©WKFThe World Karate Federation Premier League series comes to a close this weekend in Salzburg with the season-ending Grand Final.

The two-day event will see 595 competitors from 52 nations taking part in action at the Walserfeld Halle in the Austrian city.

Participants will no doubt be fine-tuning their preparations for the upcoming World Championships scheduled to take place in German city Bremen from November 5 to 9.

However, after seven Premier League events so far this year, immediate attention will be on the action in Salzburg as athletes battle to become the overall Grand Winners in 2014.

Paris was the first stop in the series back in January, which has been followed by events in Almere, The Netherlands; Lasko, Slovenia; Jakarta, Indonesia; Okinawa, Japan; Istanbul in Turkey and Hanua in Germany.

The crown of overall champion in the men's and women's kata and kumite categories is still up for grabs.

In the women's competition, Italy's Terryana D'Onofrio leads the way in the kata class ahead of Frenchwoman Sandy Scordo

Scordo's compatriots Alexandra Recchia and Lucie Ignace top the 50 kilogram and 61kg kumite standings respectively.

Japan's Miki Kobayashi is in pole position in the 55kg category with Italian Sara Cardin her closest challenger, while only 28 points separate Russia's Inga Sherozia from Iranian Pegah Zangeneh Karkooti at the top of the 68kg rankings.

Athletes will be fine-tuning preparations for next month's World Championships in Bremen ©WKFAthletes will be fine-tuning preparations for next month's World Championships in Bremen ©WKF




Swiss Fannu Clavien will be looking to confirm her status as the dominant force in the over 68kg class and faces her biggest obstacle in the form of France's Nadège Ait Ibrahim.

Ait Ibrahim's compatriot Vu Duc Minh Dack leads the men's kata class ahead of Japanese Issei Shimbaba.

In the men's kumite categories, Turkey has two athletes currently in line to be crowned Grand champions in the form of Serkan Yagci and Enes Erkan.

Yagci is being chased by Ukraine's Stanislav Horuna at the top of the 75kg class, while Erkan holds a commanding lead of more than 300 points on Iran's Iman Sanchooli in the over 84kg standings.

Iranian Amir Mahdi Zadeh also sits in second place in the 60kg category behind Italian Luca Maresca.

Macedonian Berat Jakupi heads Italy's Nello Maestri in the 84kg division, while it's an all-Hungarian affair at the top of the 67kg category with Dome Szegedi just 30 points clear of team mate Yves Martial Tadissi.

There will also be gold medals handed out in kata team competition.

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