National karate fighter claims bronze at World Championships

Azerbaijani karateka Irina Zaretska has claimed a bronze medal at the 27th Karate World Championships, Azernews reports.

Competing in the 68 kg weight category, she secured the bronze by winning her bout for third place.

Meanwhile, Asiman Gurbanli (84 kg), however, lost his bronze medal match and ultimately finished in fifth place.

The 27th Karate World Championships brought together 378 karate fighters from 86 countries.

Irina Zaretska has competed for Azerbaijan since 2015. She earned a silver medal in the women's +61 kg category at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics.

Zaretska is a three-time World Karate Champion in the women's 68 kg division, winning gold in 2018, 2021, and 2023.

She has also claimed two gold medals in this category at both the Islamic Solidarity Games (2017 and 2022) and the European Games (2015 and 2023).

Asiman Gurbanli is an Azerbaijani karateka who claimed the gold medal in the men's kumite +84 kg category at the 2019 European Games in Minsk, Belarus. He also earned a bronze medal in the men's +84 kg event at the 2021 World Karate Championships held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

In 2023, he won one of the bronze medals in the men's +84 kg event at the European Games held in Poland.

Founded in 1994, the Azerbaijan Karate Federation is a full member of the World Karate Federation (WKF) and the European Karate Federation (EKF).

Over the past few years, Azerbaijan's karate fighters have been the winners of the prestigious international tournaments, European and World Championships.

The list of strong national karate fighters includes five-time World Champion Rafael Aghayev, European Champions Abdulkarimov Parviz, Aghasiyev Jeyhun, Madadov Rustam, Ildirimzade Fayyaz, Aliyev Niyazi and Asiman Gurbanl?, bronze medalist of European Championship Ilaha Gas?mova, Atayev Amal, Jafarov Yusif, Atamov Shahin, Huseynov Rashad and others.