Youssef Badawy

In February 2019, Badawy won his first continental gold medal at The African Championship in Marrakech,Morocco. A month later, he contended at The Arab Championship for Clubs, winning the bronze medal in the kumite team event. During the same year in May, he won the gold medal in the men’s kumite +76 kg event at the Karate1 Youth League held in Limassol, Cyprus, and, in August, he won the bronze medal in the men’s team kumite at The African Games held in Rabat, Morocco. A few months later, he was ready to vie for a medal at the Junior, Cadet and U21 World Karate Championship held in Santiago, Chile, at which he claimed his first world bronze medal.

In February 2020, before COVID-19 outbreak, he won the silver medal in the men’s team kumite event at the African Championship in Tangier, Morocco.

Badawy vs Nabil Ech-Chaabi at Moscow Karate1 Premier League final

In April 2021, after the hiatus foisted by the karate events suspension due to COVID, he got in gear for his first premier league participation for the season in Lisbon, Portugal. Later, with an unheralded arrival, Badawy took Male Kumite -84kg category’s best bets off guard and swept the two premier leagues held at the thick of the season.

He made his senior debut in September at Egypt’s Karate 1 Premier League with a well-earned gold medal, and at the premier league that followed in Moscow, he carried the day and another gold medal back home after keeping an immaculate clean sheet throughout his five rounds, presaging his assured presence at the World Championship, and implying that he had set his sights on the World Champion title.

Spanning The World Championship, Badawy upstaged his contenders, starting off with a win against Ivan Kvesić, one-time 2018 world champion, and ascendingly up against renowned karate pros. At the semi-final bout, Badawy bumped heads with Jessie Da Costa who outmatched with a single point almost till the end. However, Badawy raged in attempt to hinder the imminent slipping away of the title. Resourcefully, Badawy’s national team coach Mohamed Abdelrahman requested a VR at the 0:04 second, stalling the announcement of the bout end, and sparking off a subtle final chance for Badawy to get feisty. Pulling his reverse card, Badawy signed off an emotive, last-second Yuko to even the score 2-2 and win the bout by Senshu privilege.[3]

At a nerve-raking, indecisive final between Badawy and Fabián Huaiquimán, the bout ended with a score tie 6-6 and the nullification of Badawy’s Senshu. However, Badawy was proclaimed the winner by Hantei after a consensus among the five judges. Notwithstanding his noticeable young age, Badawy imposed himself atop his category with an astounding performance that inevitably turned heads and demonstrated his exemplary resilience.

Badawy scoring his closing punch for the qualifying bout
Egypt
BOUT	CONTENDER	NATIONALITY	RESULT
1st Bout	Ivan Kvesić	Croatia	5/4
2nd Bout	Othman Majeed Shvan	Iraq	10/0
3rd Bout	Diego Silva	Brazil	6/2
Quarter Final	Faraj Alnashri	Saudi Arabia	7/5
Semi Final	Jessie Da Costa	France	2/2
Final	Fabián Huaiquimán	Chile	6/6

He stated that it was never an unexacting win and attributed his achievement to his family.

"The moment that I have been dreaming of my entire life, which one can never express it; for it is an ineffable feeling. The moment at which one truly values everything he has sacrificed for, and at which every instant of fatigue, pain, frustration, loss, and despair flashes right before his eyes, making him perceive God’s blessing and forget how that all felt once. All the credit goes to my parents; the real heroes and the reason, after God, behind everything."

— Youssef Badawy on standing on the first-place podium of the World Championship

Moving to the penultimate stop of the season, he was entitled vice champion at the African Championship held in December in his hometown, Cairo, Egypt. No more than a week later, Badawy was already in Algeria competing at the Arab Championship, at which he won the bronze medal at the men’s kumite 84 kg event, and the gold medal at the kumite team event.

Shortly after Dubai World Championship, in December, WKF announced the list of the first qualified athletes, which included Badawy, the reigning world champion, for the Karate most anticipated event of the year: 2022 World Games which will be held in July in Birmingham, USA. Following in January was Badawy’s ascent to the top 5 athletes in the world ranking for the Male Kumite -84kg category.

Badawy inaugurated his 2022 season medal count with a gold medal at the Fujairah Karate1 Premier League event after coming across his teammate, Mohamed Ramadan, at an all-Egypt final. In March, he went for playing for Al-Sharjah Sporting Club and placed first at the national Karate General League held in UAE.

Fujairah premier league award ceremony