Quick week, big week. One of our sponsored athletes won her first Karate One title in Manila on Saturday. The full Youth League wrapped Sunday. EKF Senior Championships in Frankfurt opens tomorrow with one of the deepest senior fields of the year. Here’s everything you need to know in five minutes.
1. Lead story: Ise van Bommel’s Manila gold
Ise van Bommel of the Netherlands took gold in Cadet Kumite Female +61 kg at the 2026 Karate One Youth League in Manila on Saturday, beating Petra Babić of Croatia 3-2 in a tense final that came down to the closing seconds.
It’s the 14-year-old Rhenen native’s first Karate One title and the biggest international victory of her career to date. She started 2026 with gold at the International Rhein Shiai at the Nurburgring in January, qualified through Manila’s pool stages with confidence, and held her nerve in a final that could have gone either way.
She trains five times a week and is a member of the Dutch national youth squad. NOC*NSF promise-status holder, two-time Dutch national champion, TeamNL member. Her 2026 goals are qualification for the European and World Junior Championships, and after Manila those goals look meaningfully closer.
We’ve backed Ise on her journey to moments like this, and we’re proud of it. Manila is the start, not the peak. Keep watching.
2. Manila wrapped: the full medal picture
Four days, 700+ athletes, 58 countries, 34 categories. The Philippines hosted their first ever Karate One event and pulled it off cleanly. Selected gold medals across the four days:
Junior kata: David Martin Davila 🇺🇸 (M), Zaskia Putri Salurante 🇮🇩 (F) Cadet kumite female -54 kg: Presley Allen 🇺🇸 def. Ioana Balanescu 🇷🇴 (4-0) Cadet kumite female +61 kg: Ise van Bommel 🇳🇱 def. Petra Babić 🇭🇷 (3-2) Cadet kata female: Mariel Goethe 🇩🇪 def. Natalie Goodwin 🇺🇸 (4-1) Cadet kata male: Rayyan Shah Zulfaaqqar Abdul 🇲🇾 def. Jeffrey Olaes 🇺🇸 (3-2) Junior kumite male -55 kg: Rayan Gurbanmyradov 🇹🇲 def. Matei Savulescu 🇷🇴 (6-1) Junior kumite female -59 kg: Hannah Bath Soendergaard 🇩🇰 def. Paulina Magdalenic 🇭🇷 (7-0)
Home gold for the Philippines: Two gold medals on the final day. Notable silver from Alexa Rae Vallesteros against Japan’s Kyoka Okamoto (5-0) and a 3-2 final loss for Dean Caleb Montalbo to Moayad Alqahtani of Saudi Arabia.
Eight different countries took gold on Day 3 alone, which gives you a sense of how spread the talent is at this age group. No single nation dominated. That’s a healthy youth scene.
Photo: WKF.
3. On the horizon: EKF Frankfurt opens Wednesday
This is the big one. EKF Senior Championships, Frankfurt, 20 to 24 May. Europe’s continental crown, traditionally the deepest senior field outside Worlds.
What to watch:
🇫🇷🇹🇷 Men’s kumite -67 kg: Steven Da Costa returns as the man to beat. Türkiye’s Eray Şamdan is the most consistent challenger.
🇺🇦🇩🇪 Women’s kumite -55 kg: The Terliuga versus Bitsch story we previewed in issue #1 is now scheduled. Both confirmed in the entry list. If a final happens it would be a direct rematch of the 2025 World Games final that Bitsch won 3-1.
🇪🇸 Kata (M and F): Damián Quintero and Sandra Sánchez head an absurdly stacked Spanish team. Spain are favourites in both individual kata and team kata.
🇮🇹 Team kata male: Defending European champions, the bar everyone else is chasing.
Livestream is on the EKF YouTube channel. Finals start each evening from Thursday onwards.
Photo: EKF.
4. The week in three numbers
1,100+ athletes competed across Manila and the build-up to Frankfurt this week 58 countries represented in Manila, a new high for a Youth League stop in Asia 3-2 the score in Ise van Bommel’s final, the same razor margin that decided Sena Monoi’s male kata gold at A Coruña last month. Cadet finals are often closer than senior ones at this point in the season.
What’s next
EKF Frankfurt previews and Day 1 results follow later this week. If you know someone who would care about Ise’s win or the EKF storylines ahead, send them the link.
Train hard, fight smart, and see you on the mats.