Kalnins, who starts in the weight category up to 67 kilograms, defeated Venezuelan Andres Eduardo Maderu-Delgado with the result 4: 2.
At the beginning of the fight, the two karatistas exchanged one point for the blows, but Kalniņš earned another point for the blow to the middle of the body. Later he reached 3: 1, but the opponent with “yuko” once again reduced the Latvian advantage. Six seconds before the end of the fight, Kalniņš hit 4: 2 and celebrated the victory in the second duel.
Earlier in the first duel, he lost to Jordan Abdel Rahman Almasatf 3: 8, although he was the first to take the lead.
Karate made its debut on the Olympic Games program on Thursday, and the two wrestlers became the first karatists in history to go to the tatami in “kumite” competitions. Before that, there were preliminaries in “kata” or non-contact performances.
In subgroup B, Kalnins will also fight Frenchman Stephen da Costa and Iranian Hamun Derafshipur, who represents the refugee team. Italian Angelo Creschenco withdrew from the tournament after the first fight.
After two fights, the leader with two successes is a Jordanian karatist, but the representatives of Venezuela, France and Latvia have won one victory.
At the Olympics, 11 karatistas were divided into two subgroups of five and six wrestlers each. The two best athletes of each group after one lap tournament will enter the semi-finals. The winners of the semi-finals will fight for gold, but both losers will receive bronze prizes.
In a conversation with the Latvian media this week, Kalnins mentioned the tall and award-winning Egyptian Ali El-Savi as the most uncomfortable possible opponent, who will fight in the second group.
Kalniņš usually starts in the weight category up to 60 kilograms, which in Tokyo is combined with the category up to 67 kilograms, so not all opponents are encountered during his career. Of the athletes participating in the category up to 67 kilograms, Kalnins has previously competed only with Derafshipur, who won bronze at the 2018 World Championships.
Da Costa is a -67 weight karatist, 2018 world champion and three-time European champion, as well as a world ranking leader. Kreščenco is also the 2018 world champion, only in the weight category up to 60 kilograms. The Italian has been a frequent opponent of Jelgava in recent years, and at the end of April Kalnins defeated him in the third round of the Premier League.
Madera-Delgado starts daily in the weight category up to 67 kilograms, with the Venezuelan winning several awards in the karate premier league stages and the bronze medal in the 2016 championship. Almasatfa also comes from this category, who has not excelled in his career so far, but won silver karate in the Premier League stage in April.
Kalnins is the champion of the 2019 European Games and the 2017 European Championships. Three years ago, he won bronze at the European Championships and fifth place at the World Championships.
Karate in Tokyo will debut in the Olympic Games program.
