Ayaka Saito (karateka)

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| name = Ayaka Saito

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{{Nihongo|Ayaka Saito|齊藤綾夏|Saitō Ayaka}} is a Japanese karateka. She won the gold medal in the women's +68{{nbsp}}kg event at the 2023 World Karate Championships held in Budapest, Hungary.{{Cite news |last=Berkeley |first=Geoff |date=28 October 2023 |title=Hárspataki loses dramatic final as Ukrainian shuns Russian on podium at Karate World Championships |work=InsideTheGames.biz |url=https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1142183/harspataki-loses-dramatic-world-final |access-date=28 October 2023}}

Career

At the 2018 World Karate Championships held in Madrid, Spain, she won the silver medal in the women's team kumite event.{{Cite web|url=https://www.sportdata.org/wkf/set-online/popup_main.php?popup_action=results&vernr=188&active_menu=calendar|title=2018 World Karate Championships|website=SportData|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200426163137/https://www.sportdata.org/wkf/set-online/popup_main.php?popup_action=results&vernr=188&active_menu=calendar|archive-date=26 April 2020|access-date=26 April 2020}} In 2018, she also won the gold medal in the women's team kumite event at the Asian Karate Championships held in Amman, Jordan.

At the 2019 Asian Karate Championships held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, she also won the silver medal in the women's team kumite event.{{Cite web|url=https://www.wkf.net/imagenes/campeonatos/akf-seniorresultados-16th-akf-senior-championships-15-21-july-tashkent-uzbekistan-001.pdf|title=2019 Asian Karate Championships Results|website=World Karate Federation|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200423202643/https://www.wkf.net/imagenes/campeonatos/akf-seniorresultados-16th-akf-senior-championships-15-21-july-tashkent-uzbekistan-001.pdf|archive-date=23 April 2020|access-date=23 April 2020}} In 2021, she competed in the women's +68{{nbsp}}kg event at the World Karate Championships held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

She won the gold medal in the women's +68{{nbsp}}kg event at the 2023 World Karate Championships held in Budapest, Hungary.{{Cite web |title=2023 World Karate Championships Results Book |url=https://cdn.sportdata.org/543dcb8c-0cba-4652-a6cf-cbde494cd953/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231029174223/https://cdn.sportdata.org/543dcb8c-0cba-4652-a6cf-cbde494cd953/ |archive-date=29 October 2023 |access-date=30 October 2023 |website=Sportdata.org}} She defeated María Torres of Spain in her gold medal match. She also won the silver medal in the women's team kumite event.

Achievements

class="wikitable sortable" width=45% style="font-size:90%; text-align:center;"
Year	Competition	Venue	Rank	Event
2017 \|Asian Championships \|Astana, Kazakhstan \|bgcolor="cc9966" \| 3rd \|Team kumite
rowspan=2 \| 2018 \|Asian Championships \|Amman, Jordan \|bgcolor="gold" \| 1st \|Team kumite
World Championships \|Madrid, Spain \|bgcolor="silver" \| 2nd \|Team kumite
2019 \|Asian Championships \|Tashkent, Uzbekistan \|bgcolor="silver" \| 2nd \|Team kumite
2022 \|Asian Championships \|Tashkent, Uzbekistan \|bgcolor="cc9966" \| 3rd \|Team kumite
rowspan=2 \| 2023 \|rowspan=2 \| World Championships \|rowspan=2 \| Budapest, Hungary \|bgcolor="gold" \| 1st \|Kumite +68{{nbsp}}kg
bgcolor="silver" \| 2nd \|Team kumite

class="wikitable sortable" width=45% style="font-size:90%; text-align:center;"

Year

Competition

Venue

Rank

Event

2017

|Asian Championships

|Astana, Kazakhstan

|bgcolor="cc9966" | 3rd

|Team kumite

rowspan=2 | 2018