Damian Hugo Quintero Capdevila and Sandra Sanchez Jaime came out on top in the male and female kata events respectively, while the nation also triumphed in the male team kata event.

Capdevila finished ahead of Turkey's Mehmet Yakan, with France's Duc Minh Dack Vu and Italy's Mattia Busato taking the bronze medals.

Another Turk, Dilara Bozan, was runner-up to Jaime, followed by Germany's Jasmin Bleul and Czech Republic's Veronika Miskova.

Meanwhile in the male team kata, Spain fended off the challenge of silver medallists Italy and third-placed finishers France and Croatia.

Turkey's gold medals in the female team kata and the male team kumite saw them finish second in the overall standings, while success for Emilie Thouy and Lucie Ignace in the female under 55 kilogram and under 61kg kumite events respectively secured third place for France.

Six silver and three bronze medals for Turkey, and three silver and four bronze medals for France, separated them from four other double gold medal-winning nations - Austria, Croatia, Italy and Azerbaijan.

Spain claimed three gold medals in total ©Getty Images




Austria's Bettina Plank and Alisa Buchinger won the female under 50kg and 68kg kumite events respectively, while Croatia prevailed in the female over 68kg kumite, through Masa Martinovic, and the female team kumite.

Luca Maresca of Italy and compatriot Nello Maestri took the male under 60kg and under 84kg kumite titles respectively, while Azerbaijan topped the podium in the male under 67kg kumite, through Niyazi Aliyev, and the under 75kg equivalent, courtesy of Rafael Aghayev.

Also making their mark in the gold medal stakes was Serbia thanks to Slobodan Bitevic's victory in the male over 84kg kumite.

A total of 495 karatekas from 47 countries competed at the Championships, where qualification for this year's inaugural European Games was on offer for the top-performing stars.

The European Games, which are owned, organised and regulated by the European Olympic Committees, are scheduled to take place in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku from June 12 to 28.

The French city of Montpellier is set to host the 51st edition of the EKF Senior Championships next year.

As part of the Closing Ceremony at this year's Championships, Antonio Espinos, President of the EKF and the World Karate Federation, and Esat Delihasan, President of the Turkish Karate Federation, handed over a flag to Francis Didier, President of French Karate Federation, to symbolise the changing of the hosting rights.

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