Kakeru Nishiyama Won Men's Individual Kata Gold to Give Japan a Third Straight Asian Games Title
Hong Kong's Howard Hung took bronze by beating Malaysia's Mohamad Haznil Henry five nil, after losing his semi-final to Macau's Fong Man Hou.
Kakeru Nishiyama won the men's individual kata at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on 21 September 2026, giving Japan a third consecutive Asian Games gold in the event at the Toyohashi City General Gymnasium.
Macau's Fong Man Hou took silver after beating Hong Kong's Howard Hung Ho-wai 4-1 in the semi-finals. Hung, 33, recovered to win bronze with a 5-0 victory over Malaysia's Mohamad Haznil Henry, the first medal for Hong Kong in the men's individual kata. He said he chose the Suparinpei kata for the bronze bout to gain momentum. Kuwait's Sayed Al-Mosawi took the other bronze.
Malaysia also came close to a medal in kumite. Zakiah Adnan's campaign in the women's under-61 kg category ended in the repechage, where her bout with Japan's Sarara Shimada finished level at 1-1 and Shimada advanced on first-point advantage.
Hong Kong added a second karate medal of the day when Wong Cheuk-lee beat Saudi Arabia's Hana Faiad 1-0 in the women's 68 kg bronze bout, scoring the only point with less than 20 seconds remaining.
Karate runs until 23 September, with the men's team kata among the final events. Malaysia have already won two karate bronzes, through Thevendran Kaliana Sundram in the men's 55 kg and Sureeya Sankar Hari Sankar in the men's 60 kg.