Karate World Championships: Avanzini king of +84 kg. Kata: silver for Ghinami, bronze for D’Onofrio

A gold, a silver and a bronze: this is Italy’s final result at the 2025 Individual World Karate Championships, which ended yesterday in Cairo with the day dedicated to the finals. The one who shone was Matteo Avanzini, the new world champion of +84 kg in kumite. Silver, however, for Alessio Ghinami in the men’s kata, and bronze for Terryana D’Onofrio in the women’s kata. Three podiums, five finalists and twelve athletes qualified in all the scheduled categories: Italy concludes the world championship with second position in the medal table tied with Japan, Turkey and Iran, all tied after Egypt which won 3 gold and 1 bronze. Second position alone, however, in the general ranking which also includes the 4 medals won in parakarate: gold for Mattia Allesina, silver for Patrick Buwalda, Federica Yakymashko and bronze for Pietro Merlo.

historic gold

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Matteo Avanzini entered the Italian history of karate by winning a gold in the heavyweight class that had been missing for 17 years. The last one was Stefano Maniscalco in Tokyo 2008 and Tampere 2006, before him only Davide Benetello and Claudio Guazzaroni. The twenty-one year old from Milan, athlete of the Fiamme Gialle sports group, started the tournament with a defeat in the first match of the round robin, and then won all the subsequent ones without conceding a single point. Having progressed to the round of 16 as second in the group, he then beat in succession the outgoing world champion Mehdi Filali (Fra), the Belarusian Ivan Kudzinau in the quarterfinals and the Azerbaijani Asiman Gurbanli in the semifinals. The final against the Iranian Saleh Abazari, 2024 Asian champion, was fought from the start: the first half of the match saw a yuko on each side then, 17 seconds from the end, Avanzini scored the yuko of the possible title, before the Iranian equalized on the last action. In a tied situation (2-2) and with no senshu (regulation advantage for the first valid point scored), the referees’ decision went in favor of the blue. “After this battle in the final – commented Avanzini – I can say that it was truly a very hard undertaking and that this makes everything even more beautiful. We made so many sacrifices: I remember my parents wasting hours and hours waiting for me outside the arena and this result means that they did it for something important. I am very happy and I dedicate this medal to them, I owe them my heart and soul”.

silver

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Alessio Ghinami, however, had to lose in the final to the Japanese Kakeru Nishiyama, number one in the ranking and multiple Asian champion. The blue brought a clean and decisive Gojushiho Dai, with beautiful lines and depth in the movements, confirming the quality shown throughout the tournament. Nishiyama responded with Chibana no Kushanku, powerful and flawless. The verdict rewarded the Japanese (46.4 to 44.2), but for Ghinami, 23 years old, from Friuli and already a bronze medalist at the European Championships and the World Games, a world silver arrived which brought Italy’s men’s kata back to a world championship final after several years. Along the way, Ghinami overcame top-level opponents such as the American Ariel Torres Gutiérrez, the Slovakian Roman Hrcka, the French Thomas Klemz, the Chinese Hung Ho from Hong Kong, the Egyptian Mostafa Elghobashy and the Algerian Youcef Ziad.

bronze

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Terryana D’Onofrio closed the Italian haul by winning bronze against the American Sakura Kokumai, number 4 in the ranking and already a world bronze medalist in 2012. Both performed Suparinpei in a precise, intense and highly technical challenge. The score of 42.4 to 42.1 rewarded Terryana, who thus won her third medal of 2025 and confirmed the world bronze medal won in 2023. On her way, the Lucanian overcame opponents such as Veronika Miskova (Czech Republic), Leong Wai (Singapore), Laos-Loo (Canada), Helvetia Taily (France) and Ana Cruz (Portugal), losing only in the semifinals to the Japanese Ono Maho.

fifths

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In the bronze finals, Michele Martina and Silvia Semeraro also took to the mat, both protagonists of excellent runs interrupted one step away from the podium. Martina, in the 84 kg category, lost to the Croatian Ivan Kvesic, a highly experienced opponent and already world champion, while in the 68 kg category Silvia Semeraro lost to Iryna Zaretska (Azerbaijan), Olympic vice champion and three-time world champion.

PARAKARATE

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Once again the Italian parakarate confirms itself at the top of the world. There are four medals won by the Azzurri: one gold, two silvers and one bronze. Mattia Allesina, already multiple European champion and multiple World Cup medalist, won the title in the Intellectually Impaired K22 category in an all-Italian final against teammate Patrick Buwalda, silver. Second place also for Federica Yakymashko who, after dominating the race in the Intellectually Impaired K21 category, only gave up in the final against the Hungarian Olivia Kakosy. The fourth medal came in the Weelchair User category, thanks to the excellent performance of the very young Pietro Merlo, who won the final against the Azerbaijani Eldar Ahmadov. They didn’t manage to medal, but they represented the blue colors with great determination, Claudia Polenta and Daniele Alfonsi.