Rabat – Moroccan karateka Doaa Choukri claimed the Bronze medal in the women’s U21 under-61kg category at the World Cadet, Junior and U21 Karate Championships in Bielsko-Biala, Poland, on Sunday.
Choukri defeated Belarusian Yana Konnava 6-2 in the kumite bronze-medal bout, securing a place on the world podium after advancing through Wednesday’s qualifying rounds.
Her result contributed to Morocco’s final tally of three medals at the championships, with Haitam Oufkir and Souhaib Azibou also earning silver in their respective categories.
Oufkir competed for the U21 men’s under-75 kg world title on Sunday but lost 6-4 to Spain’s Izan Martin Peña. The Moroccan had reached the final after defeating his Montenegrin opponent 3-1 in the semifinals.
A day earlier, Azibou secured silver in the junior men’s under-61 kg division following a 2-0 defeat to Japan’s Takamasa Yatoji.
The 17-year-old Moroccan had previously eliminated Egypt’s African champion Mohab Mostafa in the quarterfinals and Ukraine’s former cadet world champion Maksym Viechkanov in the semifinals.
Morocco narrowly missed out on two further bronze medals during Sunday’s competition.
Roumayssae Tarkou lost 8-7 to Italy’s Emma Colletti in the women’s U21 under-55 kg category, while Samir Sadini fell 5-3 to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Vedad Mujic in the men’s U21 under-67 kg division.
The 14th edition of the championships took place from October 14 to 18 and featured more than 2,000 athletes representing 114 countries, according to the World Karate Federation (WKF).
Morocco participated with a delegation of 20 karatekas, evenly divided between male and female competitors across the cadet, junior and U21 divisions.
