Seven titles, seven flags at PalaWojtyla
Tuesday, 1 September 2026, turned the PalaWojtyla in Martina Franca into the centre of Mediterranean kumite. On the first of two competition days at the XX Mediterranean Games in Taranto, seven weight categories were decided and seven different nations climbed the top step. Egypt left the hall with a double gold; host Italy banked six medals yet none of them gold; Morocco combined one title with three bronzes; Kosovo, North Macedonia, Algeria and France each claimed a gold of their own.
Our preview had framed the block: two concentrated kumite days, ten weight categories, Games closing on 3 September. Day 1 delivered the first seven titles. Wednesday’s programme still holds Men −84 kg, Men +84 kg and Women +68 kg. Official podiums are taken from the Microplus timing site for 1 September, with federation and press confirmation listed below.
Morning: Algeria and Morocco open the women’s board
The morning window belonged to the lighter women’s categories, and both finals ran against the host. In Women −50 kg, Algeria’s Cylia Ouikene dismantled Italy’s Erminia Perfetto 9–3 to take the opening gold of the karate programme, a result underlined by the Algerian press as a firm statement on the Martina Franca tatamis. The bronzes went to Egypt’s Reem Ahmed, 8–2 against Irene Kontou of Cyprus, and to Croatia’s Ema Sgardelli, who blanked Greece’s Christina Triada Pappa 8–0.
Women −55 kg stayed on a knife edge until the last exchange. Morocco’s Chaimae Elhayti edged Veronica Brunori of Italy 3–2 for the title — Morocco’s gold of the day, later celebrated by Yabiladi — while France’s Silya Abdesselem secured bronze 4–2 against Ahlam Youssef of Egypt and Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Nejra Sipović took the other bronze, also 4–2, against Qendresa Ibrahimi of Kosovo.
Selmani and Belistojanoski: new names on the men’s golds
The men’s morning block produced two of the day’s sharper stories. In Men −60 kg, Islam Selmani of Kosovo beat Burak Ozdemir of Türkiye 1–0 to deliver Kosovo’s first karate gold at the Mediterranean Games, a landmark flagged by Gazeta Express as the country’s seventh medal overall at these Games. Montenegro’s Balša Vojinović (2–1 vs Naim Rouichi, ALG) and Greece’s Christos Stefanos Xenos (4–1 vs Andreas Gavriel, CYP) filled the bronze places.
Men −67 kg then swung to North Macedonia. Matej Belistojanoski controlled the final 6–0 against Croatia’s Boran Berak, while Italy’s Luca Maresca fought through the repechage to bronze with an 11–9 win over Georgios Baliotis of Greece, and Morocco’s Said Oubaya completed the podium 4–0 against Nenad Dulović of Montenegro.
Egypt’s evening double; Cizo closes for France
The evening session belonged first to Egypt. Rahma Tolba swept Women −61 kg 8–0 against Fatma Naz Yenen of Türkiye, before Olympic champion Feryal Abdelaziz defended her Mediterranean crown in Women −68 kg with a 2–0 decision over Italy’s Silvia Semeraro. Two Egyptian golds in the same block set the women’s headline of the day; Reem Ahmed’s earlier bronze in −50 kg rounded out a three-medal Egyptian sheet.
Around those titles the bronzes kept the board international. In −61 kg, Morocco’s Sawsane Benchbab beat Emina Sipović of Bosnia and Herzegovina 6–3, and Alessandra Mangiacapra of Italy squeezed past France’s Monica Arzumian 5–4. In −68 kg, Türkiye’s Eda Eltemur edged Sadea Becirovic of Croatia 4–3, while Amina Fejzić of Bosnia and Herzegovina shut out France’s Thalya Sombé 5–0.
Men −75 kg closed Day 1. France’s Kilian Cizo beat European champion Ömer Faruk Yürür of Türkiye 4–3 — framed by the FFKDA as revenge on the European title-holder — with Italy’s Daniele De Vivo taking bronze 8–0 against Fawaz Bani Almarjeh of Syria and Morocco’s Hamza Sam claiming the other bronze on a 4–4 senshu decision over Egypt’s Abdalla Abdelgawad.
Host volume without a title; Morocco’s breadth; France’s short note
FIJLKAM tallied the Italian Day 1 haul at six medals: silvers for Perfetto, Brunori and Semeraro, bronzes for Mangiacapra, Maresca and De Vivo. Volume without a title remains the host line after one day, a reading shared by OA Sport’s evening wrap.
Morocco’s board stretched beyond Elhayti’s gold: Benchbab, Oubaya and Sam added three bronzes across women’s and men’s categories, one of the broader national spreads of the session.
For France, the Day 1 medal count is one gold and one bronze — Cizo’s −75 kg title and Abdesselem’s −55 kg bronze — with Arzumian and Sombé both falling in bronze bouts. That is the French note from the official finals; the wider story of the day stays international.
Day 1 podiums (Microplus)
Women −50 kg — Gold: Cylia Ouikene (ALG) 9–3 vs Erminia Perfetto (ITA). Bronze: Reem Ahmed (EGY) 8–2 vs Irene Kontou (CYP); Ema Sgardelli (CRO) 8–0 vs Christina Triada Pappa (GRE).
Women −55 kg — Gold: Chaimae Elhayti (MAR) 3–2 vs Veronica Brunori (ITA). Bronze: Silya Abdesselem (FRA) 4–2 vs Ahlam Youssef (EGY); Nejra Sipović (BIH) 4–2 vs Qendresa Ibrahimi (KOS).
Women −61 kg — Gold: Rahma Tolba (EGY) 8–0 vs Fatma Naz Yenen (TUR). Bronze: Sawsane Benchbab (MAR) 6–3 vs Emina Sipović (BIH); Alessandra Mangiacapra (ITA) 5–4 vs Monica Arzumian (FRA).
Women −68 kg — Gold: Feryal Abdelaziz (EGY) 2–0 vs Silvia Semeraro (ITA). Bronze: Eda Eltemur (TUR) 4–3 vs Sadea Becirovic (CRO); Amina Fejzić (BIH) 5–0 vs Thalya Sombé (FRA).
Men −60 kg — Gold: Islam Selmani (KOS) 1–0 vs Burak Ozdemir (TUR). Bronze: Balša Vojinović (MNE) 2–1 vs Naim Rouichi (ALG); Christos Stefanos Xenos (GRE) 4–1 vs Andreas Gavriel (CYP).
Men −67 kg — Gold: Matej Belistojanoski (MKD) 6–0 vs Boran Berak (CRO). Bronze: Luca Maresca (ITA) 11–9 vs Georgios Baliotis (GRE); Said Oubaya (MAR) 4–0 vs Nenad Dulović (MNE).
Men −75 kg — Gold: Kilian Cizo (FRA) 4–3 vs Ömer Faruk Yürür (TUR). Bronze: Daniele De Vivo (ITA) 8–0 vs Fawaz Bani Almarjeh (SYR); Hamza Sam (MAR) 4–4 senshu vs Abdalla Abdelgawad (EGY).
Seven titles, seven flags on gold. Italy leads the host medal count without a top step; Egypt’s double frames the women’s day. Three weight categories remain for Wednesday.
Day 2: three titles left
Wednesday, 2 September, returns to PalaWojtyla for Men −84 kg, Men +84 kg and Women +68 kg. That closes the karate programme at these Games: ten weight categories on the bulletin, seven decided, three still open.
Sources
- Microplus official medals (1 Sep 2026): https://taranto2026.microplustimingservices.com/#/combat-sports-medals/KTE/2026-09-01
- FIJLKAM (Italy Day 1, six medals): https://www.fijlkam.it/karate/news-karate/11671-giochi-del-mediterraneo-sei-medaglie-per-il-karate-azzurro-nella-prima-giornata.html
- FFKDA (France Day 1): https://www.ffkarate.fr/jeux-mediterraneens-jour-1/
- Yabiladi (Elhayti gold): https://en.yabiladi.com/articles/details/201842/morocco-s-chaimae-hayti-wins-karate.html
- Gazeta Express (Selmani / Kosovo): https://www.gazetaexpress.com/en/Islam-Selmani-wins-gold--the-seventh-medal-for-kosovo-in-the-Mediterranean-Games/
- L’Écho d’Algérie (Ouikene): https://lechodalgerie.dz/jeux-mediterraneens-de-tarente-2026-karate-do-cylia-ouikene-frappe-fort-et-decroche-lor/
- Sportske (Fejzić bronze): https://sportske.ba/clanak/mediteranske-igre-amina-fejzic-nadigrala-francuskinju-u-borbi-za-bronzu/
- OA Sport (Italy medals): https://www.oasport.it/2026/09/karate-semeraro-de-vivo-e-mangiacapra-portano-nuovamente-un-tris-di-medaglie-ai-giochi-del-mediterraneo/
- karate.news preview: https://karate.news/en/articles/mediterranean-games-karate-starts-tuesday-french-10-at-palawojtyla-martina-franca
