It will be a busy week for Turkish judo and karate players, who are set to fight for titles in international competitions. In judo, the senior men and women's teams and junior men's team will compete in three events for gold between March 29 and March 31.
In Grand Prix in Georgia, six women will compete for Turkey, while a team of nine female and seven male players will vie for titles in the Balkan Championship in Albania. The men's junior team will compete in the Tula Cadet European Cup in Russia with eight players. The Grand Prix in Georgia on March 29-31 is significant as it gives points for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Seventeen karate players will represent Turkey in the Senior Championships in Guadalajara, Spain, that start today and end on Sunday. Turkish Karate Federation President Esat Delihasan said they wanted to be in the top five standings in the championship and counted on their past successes, including a second spot in last year's European Championship. Serap Özçelik Arapoğlu, who will fight in the Kumite 50-kilogram division, said more Turkish players compete in the field nowadays, and she wanted to repeat her success in training sessions and bring the top title to Turkey. Uğur Aktaş, who competes at 84 kilos in Kumite, wants a comeback in Spain after a one-year gap following back-to-back top titles in the European championships in 2016 and 2017. Aktaş won a bronze in the world championships last year and says that everyone now expects him to win gold.
