W.A.K.O. World Championships 1990

W.A.K.O. World Championships 1990 were the seventh world kickboxing championships hosted by the W.A.K.O. organization arranged by W.A.K.O. president Ennio Falsoni. It was the second W.A.K.O. championships in a row to be hosted in Mestre (the Euros were also hosted there), and the fourth time overall in Italy, involving amateur men and women from twenty-eight countries from across the world. Originally, world championships were scheduled to take place in the USA in October 1989, but due to errors in event planning Italy saved the championships by organizing the tournament 3 months later. There were four categories on offer; Full-Contact (men only), Semi-Contact, Light-Contact (men only) and Musical Forms, with each country typically allowed one competitor per weight division (asides from women's Musical Forms). Competitors were allowed to participate in more than one category, however, with double winners in Light and Semi-Contact. By the end of a competitive championships, USA were the top nation, with Poland a close second, and Canada in third. The event was held over three days at the Palasport Taliercio in Mestre Italy, starting on Friday 19 January and ending on Sunday 21 January, 1990.

W.A.K.O. World Championships 1990
The poster for W.A.K.O. World Championships 1990
Promotion	W.A.K.O.
Date	January 19 (Start) January 21, 1990 (End)
Venue	Palasport Taliercio
City	Mestre, Italy
Event chronology
W.A.K.O. European Championships 1988 W.A.K.O. World Championships 1990 W.A.K.O. European Championships 1990

Full-Contact

Returning after being absent at the last European championships, Full-Contact at Mestre was available to men only and consisted of ten weight divisions ranging from 54 kg/118.8 lbs to over 91 kg/+200.2 lbs. All bouts were fought under Full-Contact kickboxing rules - more detail on the rules can be found at the W.A.K.O. website, although be aware that they may have changed slightly since 1990. The most notable winner was future pro boxer Przemysław Saleta who won gold in the -91 kg division. By the end of the championships Poland was the strongest country in Full-Contact with three golds and one bronze.

Men's Full-Contact Kickboxing Medals Table

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
-54 kg	Jonny Gevriye	Massimo Spinelli	Gabriel Damm Oszkár Balogh
-57 kg	Massimo Rizzoli	Pascal Comaille	Luis Diego Murat Comert
-60 kg	Bogdan Sawicki	Dennis Sigo	Nesradin Bilan Alessandro Gatto
-63.5 kg	János Gönczi	Dogan Sinan	Giorgio Perreca Wojciech Wiertel
-67 kg	Piotr Falender	Sahah Alston	Roberto Rocchi Patrice Prando
-71 kg	Paolo Liberati	Horst Nether	Chabane Bouricha Michael Lowengren
-75 kg	Ralf Kunzler	Nasser Nassiri	Steve Martin Tiziano Ubaldi
-81 kg	David Taylor	Pares Basilikos	Alfonso Sgarro Paul Thorsten
-91 kg	Przemysław Saleta	Said Bechari	Eirik Lutken Nik Askitis
+91 kg	Philippe Coutelas	Paolo Zorello	Dusko Malovic Angelo Spreafico

Semi-Contact

Both men and women took part in Semi-Contact competitions at Mestre. Semi-Contact differed from Full-Contact in that fights were won by points given due to technique, skill and speed, with physical force limited - more information on Semi-Contact can be found on the W.A.K.O. website, although the rules will have changed since 1990. At Mestre the men had seven weight classes, starting at 57 kg/125.4 lbs and ending at over 84 kg/+184.8 lbs, while the women's competition had four weight classes beginning at 50 kg/110 lbs and ending at over 60 kg/132 lbs. The most notable winner was Piotr Siegoczynski who also won a gold at the same event in the Light-Contact category. By the end of the championships, USA was the top nation in Semi-Contact winning four golds, one silver and three bronzes.

Men's Semi-Contact Kickboxing Medals Table

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
-57 kg	Piotr Siegoczynski	Cuccu Maurizio	Abidin Uz Attila Balogh
-63 kg	Peter Gilpin	Polgar Zsolt	Hassin Chardbani Joachin Weiphrdt
-69 kg	Billy Bryce	Ibrahim Triqui	Bobby O'Neil Yves Lalonde
-74 kg	Jay Bell	Andreas Lindemann	Sergio Portaro Ibrahim Centintas
-79 kg	Anthony Holloway	Gianna Peruchetti	Yaka Yilmaz Milan Alessandro
-84 kg	Alfie Lewis	Eric Depaite	Hakim Alston Peter Berndt
+84 kg	Steve Anderson	Tony Syces	Michael Dunleavy Peter Hainke

Women's Semi-Contact Kickboxing Medals Table

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
-50 kg	Aquilano Eulalia	Lori Lantrip	Katalin Lőrinczy Deya Yappak
-55 kg	Manon Desrochers	Amabile Reasilvia	Christine Bannon Márta Bene
-60 kg	Betty Hills	Gabriella Bády	Roberta Vitali Elsa Cordero
+60 kg	Linda Denley	Tiziana Zennaro	Tünde Kocsis Nichole Corbett

Light-Contact

Light-Contact made its first appearance at a W.A.K.O. world championships, having made its debut at the Europeans two years previously. More physical than Semi-Contact but less so than Full-Contact, points were awarded and fights won on the basis of speed and technique over power, and it was seen as a transition stage for fighters who were considering a move from Semi to Full-Contact. More information on Light-Contact rules can be found of the W.A.K.O. website, although be aware that the rules may have changed since 1990. Only men were allowed to take part in the category, with seven weight classes available, starting at 57 kg/125.4 lbs and ending at over 84 kg/+184.8 lbs. The most notable winner was Piotr Siegoczynski who also won a gold at the same event in the Semi-Contact category. Hungary was the top nation in Light-Contact with three golds, one silver and two bronze medals.

Men's Light-Contact Kickboxing Medals Table

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
-57 kg	Piotr Siegoczynski	Jakob Jurgen	Attila Balogh Uc Abidin
-63 kg	Rafael Nieto	Peter Gilpin	Polgar Zsolt Jean Luc Kitoko
-69 kg	Marek Drazdzynski	Rodrigue Listoir	Claudio Pattarino Christoph Walder
-74 kg	Heinz Bresser	István Tóth	Giuseppe Paladino Martin Gibbons
-79 kg	Lajos Hugyetz	Tim Flood	Franz Haber Douglas Vincent
-84 kg	Zoltan Szucs	Nori Carlo	Mike Schuhmann Carl-Heinz Martin
+84 kg	Barnabas Katona	Torstein Fossnes	Ray McKenzie Alex Edoo

Musical Forms

After being absent from the European championships in Mestre, Musical forms returned to a W.A.K.O. championships. The event was open to men and women; although the women's category was for demonstration purposes and although the female medal winners would be recorded by W.A.K.O. as champions, their medals would not count towards their country's final medal tally at the end of the event. The men had three categories; hard style, soft styles and weapons, while the women just had the one. Musical Forms is a non-physical competition which sees the contestants fighting against imaginary foes using Martial Arts techniques - more information can be accessed on the W.A.K.O. website, although be aware that the rules may have changed since 1990. By the end of the championships, the USA were the top nation in Musical Forms, winning two gold medals and one silver medal.

Men's Musical Forms Medals Table

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Hard Styles	Jean Frenette	Warren Garrett	Lino Guarnaccia
Soft Styles	Karl Romain	Enrico Giachero	Kirstin Waldberg
Weapons	Kevin Thompson	Mike Bernardo	Bob Fermor

Women's Musical Forms Medals Table

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Women Musical Forms	Christine Bannon	Elsa Cordero	Kathy Quan

Overall Medals Standing (Top 5)

Note that women's Musical Forms winners are not counted in the final medals standings. See Musical Forms section above for more information.

Ranking	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1	USA	6	3	4
2	Poland	6	0	1
3	Canada	4	4	1
4	Hungary	4	3	6
5	Great Britain	4	1	2

See also

• List of WAKO Amateur World Championships
• List of WAKO Amateur European Championships

External links

• WAKO World Association of Kickboxing Organizations Official Site Archived 2013-12-07 at the Wayback Machine