Indonesian Ahmad Zigi Zaresta has grabbed a gold medal for Merah Putih after winning the junior male kata class in the opening day of the World Junior, Cadet and Under 21 Karate Championships at the International Convention Exhibition in Serpong, Banten, on Thursday.

Zigi defeated Pereda Elorduy Xabier of Spain 3-2 in the final to give Indonesia its first gold medal after nine years of participating in the event.

Zigi'€™s coach Ridi Okwar said that he was surprised by the victory, although he was always certain that Zigi could make it.

'€œWe were quite confident that [Zigi] could nail it. Zigi had met with Xabier before in the 2013 World Karate Championships WKF Junior, Cadet and Under 21 in Spain,'€ Ridi told reporters.

'€œAt that time, Zigi lost 3-2 to Xabier and had to settle with fourth place. This time, Zigi beat Xabier 3-2 for the gold,'€ he said.

The 17-year-old Zigi performed more difficult routines compared to Xabier, which saw Zigi out-score his opponent, the coach added.

He got through to the finals after crushing Arango Soto Nykolai Josef of the Dominican Republic, Yamada Yoshiki of Japan and Heydarov Roman of Azerbaijan in earlier rounds.

Another Indonesian, Rizki Anindya Putri Pulungsari, finished in seventh place.

In another match, Japan also wrapped up the day with its first gold medal courtesy of Ugai Mizuki. Ugai, competing in the junior kata female competition, defeated Sadeghi Dastak Fatemeh of Iran, 5-0.

Japan currently tops the 16-country tally with four gold and two bronze medals. Turkey is in second with one gold and three bronze medals. Indonesia stands with one gold medal.

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