Congratulations to Zahari Damyanov
Congratulations to Zahari Damyanov from Bulgaria, winner of the 2012 Kyokushin All American Karate Open tournament.
Damyanov face Kapanadze in the final, who had been fighting very strong during the day. The first round saw tough close fighting with Damyanov not giving Kapanadze much room to execute his leg kicks. Although some had gotten through and had started to take their toll on Damyanov. At the end of round 1 score was 2-0, and it went another extension.
The tables turned in round 2 as Damyanov’s inside leg kicks started to catch Kapanadze, dropping him several times, and it became visible that Kapanadze was in trouble. Last 30 seconds and Damyanov dominated, moving well and throwing a incredible amount of techniques, as Kapanadze was caught unable to return fire and when time was up it was 5-0 to the winner, Zahari Damyanov
This makes it 2 years in a row for Zahari Damyanov at the American Open. Well done, a great champion!
Results
1st – Zahari Damyanov
2nd – Goderzi Kapanadze
3rd – Alejandro Navarro
4th – Oleksandr Ieromenko
Most Boards – Zahari Damyanov
Best Technique – Goderzi Kapanadze
Damyanov faced off against Shouhei Kamada in the quarter finals. It was over within 10 seconds as Damyanov scored an ippon with a beautiful jodan mawashi geri which rocked Kamada.
Next Damyanov up against Ieromenko in the semi finals. Damyanov was just too strong for Ieromenko taking in a good win.
Kapanadze was up against Nicolae Stoian in the quarter finals. Stoian was taking it to Kapanadze and pushing hard when Kapanadze executed a perfect back kick which floored Stoian giving Kapanadze the victory via ippon.
Next was the much anticipated match of Goderzi Kapanadze vs Alejandro Navarro. It was a slow start to the bout with both fighters taking time to feel each other out and giving each other a lot of respect. Kapanaze very close to scoring with head kicks and back kicks. First round ending in a draw. In the first extension Kapanadze kicks were just too strong and Navarro couldn’t go with it, leading to a 3-0 win for Kapandze.
Female Division
Lightweight
1st – Elena Vorobeva
2nd – Koto Hiraoka
Middle/Heavyweight
1st – Julie Lamarre
2nd – Ekaterina Provkova
Yokozuna – Julie Lamarre
Most Spirited – Koto Hiraoka