Although the Egyptian national team was tete a tete with the French all through the five-day competition, Egypt finished ahead with three gold medals, two silver and one bronze, pushing France, the defending world champion to third place with two gold, three silver and three bronze. Japan, the Asian Bear, restored its previous glory, clinching first place with a total of three gold, two silver and five bronze. The 22nd World Karate Championship held in Bremen, Germany, had 116 nations and 996 athletes. In the female kumite (fight), in the under 61kg category, Giana Lotfi was the first player to win gold for Egypt, defeating Malaysia's Jefry Krishnan in the final 2-1. Lotfi was the winner of the 2014 edition of the African Championship and winner of the World Championships for Under 21 in 2013. Teammate Shaimaa Abul Yazeed followed with the gold medal after defeating Iran's Hamideh Abbasali 2-1 in the over 68kg category. Abul Yazeed's best result was fifth place in the 2008 Tokyo World Championship. Mohamed Salem, Egyptian national team kumite technical manager, said Abul Yazeed was the black horse of the championship. “We were targeting a medal but we never dreamt of a gold one. It's a great achievement that she deserves as she exerted her utmost effort. Giana Lotfi was also an achievement. This time the females collected all the gold.” The Egyptian collective women's kata team which compromised Yasmine Hamdi, Areej Saad, Giana Lotfi, Fatma Al-Zahraa and Shaimaa Abul Yazeed, took a third gold medal for Egypt coming in first place in an upset. In the men's events, Magdi Mamdouh collected the silver medal in the under 67kg weight category. The Egyptian men's kata team which consisted of Ibrahim Magdi, Mohamed Hamdi and Ahmed Ashraf, finished in second place for the silver medal while Mohamed Al-Katbi snatched the bronze medal in the kumite event under 84kg. In addition, the Egyptian intellectually disabled team was able to collect a gold, a silver and a bronze medal in their first participation in the competition held alongside the World Championship. The champions were Salma Alaa, winner of the gold medal, Heba Radwan who collected the silver and Mowaf Mohamed who snatched the bronze. Hisham Mansi, the team's technical manager, expressed his extreme happiness with the achievement. “I am very happy to be able to help my players to reach the world stage and send a message to everyone that intellectually disabled athletes can join competitions, collect medals and celebrate like their able-bodied counterparts. I hope all countries can give a hand to help such players to be allowed to participate in the different competitions that are held throughout the year. Sayed Nasr, head of the Egyptian delegation and Egyptian Karate Federation board member, said the achievement was due to the “great help and support that we received from Sports and Youth Minister Khaled Abdel-Aziz, who helped nearly every individual sports to participate in international events. “We were able to perfect our international ranking to come in second place this time while we came in sixth place in the World Championship that took place in France two years ago. “I also dedicate the victory and achievement to (Egyptian) President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi who helped Egypt to be well presented on the international scene.” Ayman Abdel-Hamid, Egyptian Karate Federation president: “We worked hard and the players were practicing day and night and they were able to do it. I thank each and every one who gave a helping hand to our national team and its technical team who were able to reach such a standard.”
