East Lothian fighter Calum Robb continued his relentless assault of the global karate pecking order by retaining his World Wado Crown at the weekend.

Calum, the current European champion too, was fighting in the Heavyweight category which had 29 entrants. On the first day of competition Calum progressed through the early rounds beating some excellent fighters from Japan and France en-route to the last four. 

On day two, the Haddington ace met an Iranian fighter in the semi final, whom he beat convincingly. In the final he defeated an Italian fighter to lift the Gold Medal, and the acclaimed 'World' title which accompanied it.

 

“It’s great to defend my world title, especially in Japan, the birthplace of karate,” Calum told ITWZ.

“The event was well attended and the standard was very high.  

“In the final I met a competitor from Italy who was a lot smaller in height than me, so although early on he moved around well and he was hard to hit, I used my superior reach to outscore him and take my second consecutive world title 3 points to nil. 

“I travelled with my mother, so it was a very proud moment for her also.  It means a lot for me to win a world title in Japan, you cannot get better than that, and for my mother to be there when I did it makes it all the more special to me. A great memory.”

 

Wado is Calum’s preferred style of karate and one of the most popular throughout the world. Japan is the birthplace of karate and consequently they host the biennial Championships every fourth year. Over thirty countries sent fighters and teams to this prestigious event.