Egyptian karate athlete Moamen Mohamed won the silver medal in the Male Open Kumite category at the 2023 USA Open held in Las Vegas from April 7-9.
Mohamed, a two-time world champion, previously won silver in Spain in 2017 and bronze in Chile in 2019, and is currently ranked 12th in the world in karate.
In the competition, Mohamed won his first match against Mexico with a score of 6-0, and went on to defeat the Canadian champion 5-0. Despite facing off against the American player, who had the support of the home crowd, Mohamed still managed to win with a score of 7-0.
In the semi-finals, Mohamed faced Vinicius Figueira from Brazil, who had won a silver medal in the 2028 World Championships. Despite Figueira’s strength, Mohamed emerged victorious with a score of 3-1.
However, Mohamed lost to Thomas Scott from the US in the final match, who is ranked third in the World Karate Federation’s (-75) rankings and won a bronze medal in the 2021 World Championships.
The Open Kumite category is known for its toughness, as it includes players from different weight classes. In the end, Thomas Scott from the USA claimed the first-place spot, while Mohamed took the second-place spot. Vinicius Figueira from Brazil and Abdessalam Ameknassi from Morocco both secured the third-place spot.
