A record 874 athletes from 50 countries were registered to take part in the two-day event as the Premier League series nears its conclusion.

Sandy Scordo, Alexandra Recchia and Lucie Ignace all raised the French tricolour in Hanau, while the only other nation to crown more than one winner was Italy in the form of its women's kata team and Sara Cardin in the women's kumite under 55 kilogram category.

Nine other nations secured gold across the 14 categories at the August-Scharttner Halle.

Scordo's gold came in the women's kata individual class, while Recchia and Ignace took top honours in the women's kumite under 50kg and under 61kg classes respectively.

The trio of Sara Battaglia, Viviana Bottaro and Michela Pezzetti took the women's kata team honours to add to Cardin's success.

Elsewhere in the women's competition, Inga Sherozia of Russia overcame Swiss Elena Quirici to gold in the kumite under 68kg final, while the over 68kg crown was claimed by Quirici's team mate Fanny Clavien with victory over Laura Palacio Gonzalez of Spain.

A record 874 athletes from 50 countries registered for the WKF Premier League meeting at the August-Scharttner Halle in Hanau ©WKF



Spanish eyes were smiling, however, following the conclusion of the men's kata team competition after Jose Salazar, Hugo Quintero and Jose Manuel Carbonell Lopez topped the standings.

Quintero had to settle for bronze though in the kata individual event, which saw Venezuela's Antonio Diaz get the better of Italian Mattia Busato in the final.

The men's kumite competition opened up with a win for Turkey's Aykut Kaya in the under 60kg category, while there was further South American success in the form of Colombia's Guillermo Ramirez, who defeated Brazilian Vinicius Figueira in the final of the under 67kg class.

The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia celebrated clinching gold after Berat Jakupi defeated Russian rival Alexander Aliev in the under 84kg decider.

Rene Smaal of The Netherlands had too much for Italy's Luigi Busa to take the under 75kg crown, while the biggest cheer of the weekend was reserved for German Jonathan Horne, who secured gold in the over 84kg division with victory over Frenchman Salim Bendiab.

Attention now turns to the Premier League Grand Final in Austrian city Salzburg, which takes place on October 11 and 12.

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