Recap: Premier League Turkey 2026

Istanbul – With the Premier League Istanbul 2026, the official starting signal was given for the new competition season and, at the same time, for the race for points toward the 2027 World Championships. For three days, the metropolis on the Bosphorus was entirely defined by emotions, top-level athletic performance, and international elite karate.

Team Punok presented itself in strong form right from the start and successfully concluded the competition with a total of five medals. The athletes delivered consistently focused performances and held their own against a highly competitive international field of participants.

Abdalla Abdelaziz was particularly successful, impressing with dominant performances in the -75 kg weight category all the way to the final, where he rightfully secured the gold medal. Two further appearances in the finals underlined the team’s overall depth of performance: Youssef Badawy (-84 kg) and Taha Mahmoud (+84 kg) each fought their way to the silver medal.

Team Punok also made a strong statement in the kata division. Ariel Torres reached third place with an impressive performance and won the bronze medal. Stefanos Xenos completed the convincing overall result with a respectable fifth-place finish in the -60 kg category.

The final bouts on the last day of competition created great excitement and showcased karate at the highest international level. The successful performance in Istanbul confirms the intensive preparation and provides an important foundation for the upcoming tournaments.

Attention is now focused on the future: the next goal is the Premier League in Rome in March, where Team Punok aims to build on the successful start to the season and collect further important world ranking points.