Bronze Medal for Bulgaria at the First World Fullcontact Karate Championship in Tokyo
On 31 May and 1 June 2025, the Tokyo Ariake Arena hosted the 1st World Fullcontact Karate Championship, organised by the World Fullcontact Karate Organization (WFKO). The historic event brought together, for the first time under one roof, fighters from different fullcontact karate styles and organisations — 165 competitors from 31 countries across six continents took to the tatami.
Bouts were held in ten categories — five for women and five for men, with 16–18 fighters in each. The 2nd International Tournament ran alongside the championship, and the programme also included opening ceremonies and a youth demonstration.
Bulgaria’s Participation
Bulgaria was represented by three fighters who qualified through the European selection tournament in Antwerp:
- Ivanka Popova — Women -65 kg
- Kaloyan Tashev — Men -90 kg
- Veselin Fartsov — Men +90 kg
The medal for Bulgaria was won by Ivanka Popova, who took bronze in the Women -65 kg category. With this result, Bulgaria joined the nine nations that won a medal at the first world championship, alongside Japan, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Sweden, Georgia, Poland, the Netherlands and Hungary.
Champions by Category
The championship was dominated by the hosts — Japanese fighters claimed nine of the ten titles. The only non-Japanese champion was Anton Zimarev (Kazakhstan) in the Men -80 kg category.
Women: -50 kg - Miina Mori; -54 kg - Ai Mizutani; -59 kg — Reina Kan; -65 kg — Ramu Amikawa; +65 kg — Mihiro Suzuki (all Japan).
Men: -60 kg — Tenshin Sawai (Japan); -70 kg — Kaede Hiraki (Japan); -80 kg — Anton Zimarev (Kazakhstan); -90 kg — Kazushi Watanabe (Japan); +90 kg — Yuta Goto (Japan).
Other European medallists included Jonas Rosin (Sweden) — silver, Men -90 kg; Brigita Gustaitytė (Lithuania) - silver, Women +65 kg; and bronze medallists Valence Bickel (Netherlands), Berta Szalay (Hungary), Ali Hayder (Sweden), Szymon Olpiński (Poland), Paulius Žimantas and Eventas Gužauskas (Lithuania).
Full results, draws and fight videos:
Gallery
