Gurung eyes podium at Karate 1 Premier League in Leshan

By A Staff Reporter

Kathmandu : Nepal’s star karateka, Arika Gurung, is set to continue her historic run on the global stage this weekend as she takes to the mat for the Karate One Premier League in Leshan, China. 

The tournament, held at the Leshan Olympic Sports Centre, is the third stop of the prestigious 2026 season, following high-profile events in Istanbul and Rome. The season will conclude in Rabat, Morocco, from 12 to 14 June.

The Leshan leg began on Friday at the Leshan Olympic Sports Centre. Gurung will compete in the women’s kumite +68kg category on Saturday. She is making her second Premier League appearance of the season after winning silver in Istanbul in January.

Currently ranked 11th with 2,145 points, Gurung is the first Nepali to feature in karate’s top-tier series. She has already made history for Nepal, claiming the country’s first gold medal in the Karate 1 Series A in 2025, its first bronze in the Premier League the same year, and its first silver in Istanbul earlier this season.

Her record also includes silver medals at the 20th Asian Senior Championships in 2024, the Asian Games, and the Karate 1 Youth League in Fujairah in 2025 (U21 category).

A total of 23 athletes are contesting the women’s +68kg division in Leshan, split into six groups. The top eight will progress to the knockout stage. Group and semi-final bouts are scheduled for Saturday, with the finals on Sunday.

Gurung has been drawn in Pool 3 alongside Montenegro’s Jovana Damjanovic (ranked 19th, 175 points), Germany’s Johanna Kneer (ranked 2nd, 5,325 points), and Belarusian Maryia Malakhava (ranked 52nd, 285 points), who is competing under the World Karate Federation flag.

According to the schedule, Gurung will first face Damjanovic, then Malakhava, before meeting Kneer in her final group bout.