Bielsko-Biała 2026: Natalia Balut and the world finals taking shape

On Thursday, in the Pod Dębowcem hall, Natalia Balut fought on ground she has known since childhood. Born in Sopot, the Polish karateka has competed in this arena since childhood at the Polish Open, and this time many of her family and friends were in the stands. By the end of the day she had become the first athlete from the host nation to reach a gold-medal bout at the 2026 World Cadet, Junior & U21 Championships.

A final in front of her own crowd

Her path through the junior kumite +66 kg category began narrowly, 2-1 against Tugba Curuk of Türkiye, then opened up: 8-0 against New Zealand's Gemma Thomas, 2-0 against Effrosyni Davidoula Douka of Greece, 6-2 against Canada's Mariana Guerrero. In the semi-final she beat Mexico's Valeria Linett Juarez Martinez 5-2.

"I am very happy to be in the final. My focus is not done yet, as I still have not achieved what I came here for," she said afterwards. On Saturday she will face Egypt's Roaa Eltaher, who reached the final with a 5-0 win over Italy's Nicole Correddu.

Balut arrives with a continental bronze medal, a bronze from the Karate One Youth League in Poreč earlier this year and a cadet silver from the 2024 EKF Championships. According to the WKF, a gold would make her the first Polish karateka to win a world title since 2017. "I don't feel the pressure. I am happy and proud to represent my country in the final," she said. "A lot of my family and friends were here, and I have good feelings for Saturday."

Wednesday: the U21 day of narrow margins

The U21 finalists were decided on the opening day. The scoreline that stood out came in the −67 kg category, where Moldova's Alexandr Capmoale beat Vedad Mujic of Bosnia and Herzegovina 15-14, a result the WKF called extraordinary. In the final he will meet Türkiye's Savas Ogus, who won his semi-final 8-0 against Armenia's Yura Zalyan.

Elsewhere, a single point often made the difference. Belgium's Amin Abdelmalki edged Italy's Guido Squillante 1-0 in −60 kg and will face Mexico's Daniel Alejandro Cruz Romero. In −55 kg, Alyssia Voorduin of the Netherlands won 2-1 against Morocco's Roumayssae Tarkou, while Egypt's Sally Abdou went through on a hantei decision after a 0-0 bout. Ukraine's Nikita Dmytrenko needed a 3-2 win over England's Ashton Patrick to reach the −84 kg final, where Egypt's Omar Osman awaits. At the other end of the scale, the Czech Republic's Amalie Hakova scored thirteen points against Italy's Marta Buono, winning 13-4, and will meet Croatia's Sara Tomic in +68 kg. In +84 kg, Ivan Kudzynau, competing under the WKF banner, won 8-0 and will face Alexander Davies of Luxembourg.

On the kata side, Spain's Paola Garcia Lozano beat Venezuela's Daniela Garcia 5-0 and will meet Brazil's Gabrielle Henrique, who overcame Japan's Misuzu Kobayashi 3-2. Among the men, Türkiye's Furkan Kaynar faces Japan's Soshi Okumura. The cadet and junior team kata finals were also set on Wednesday, with four 5-0 semi-finals: Italy against Türkiye in the male event, Spain against Japan in the female event.

Thursday: juniors from four continents

The next day belonged to the juniors. Japan supplied the largest group of finalists, ahead of Egypt, and the line-up features competitors from four continents. In kata, Japan's Wakana Ito beat Indonesia's Zaskia Putri Salurante 5-0 and will face Austria's Tamara Lehner, who edged Egypt's Hana Hani Tanib 3-2. Japan's Takeru Hamazawa and Portugal's Mateus Vasco both won their semi-finals 5-0 and will meet for the male title.

On the kumite tatamis, the semi-final the WKF called dramatic came in −66 kg. Palestine's Mariam Bsharat beat Japan's Wakana Karikomi 8-7 and will face Spain's Noa Lopez Gonzalez, who defeated Skyla Harling of the United States 4-1. In −76 kg, Scotland's Cullen Brodie won 8-0 against Kyriakos Vakanas of Cyprus and will meet Kazakhstan's Sungkar Kanibek. In +76 kg, Ukraine's Vladyslav Rudenko edged Poland's Michal Przasnyski 1-0, ending another Polish campaign one step short of the final, and will face Montenegro's Vuk Vucinic.

Japan's other finalists came through in different ways: Jun Mitsuie won 5-4 against Ukraine's Vladyslav Skrypnyk in −55 kg before a final against Azerbaijan's Vusal Ganbarov, Takamasa Yatoji will meet Morocco's Souhaib Azibou in −61 kg, and Maari Maeda faces Egypt's Mouaz Mostafa in −68 kg. In −48 kg, Italy's Sofia Pavone meets Isis Matos. France also has two finalists, Maryam Echamaa in −53 kg against Egypt's Malak Afifi and Morgane Scarfone in −59 kg against Vietnam's Cam Tu Tran.

The weekend rendezvous

Friday is given over to the cadet eliminations. Then come the bronze-medal bouts and finals: on Saturday from 10:00 to 19:00 and on Sunday from 10:00 to 15:45, local time. More than 2,000 athletes from 114 countries registered for these championships, a record entry for the age-group Worlds.

Those who cannot travel to Bielsko-Biała will not miss them. For the first time in WKF history, the whole competition, from the first eliminations to the medal bouts, is streamed live across all eight tatamis on the WKF YouTube channel.