Hong Kong's Grace Lau took women's kata gold at the AKF Senior Championships after three previous silver medals ©WKF

Hong Kong's Grace Lau overcame women's kata back-to-back defending champion Kiyou Shimizu of Japan at the Asian Karate Federation (AKF) Senior Championships in the Malaysian city of Malacca.

In a battle between two Olympic medallists in the final, it was Lau who caused an upset against Shimizu for her first continental crown at the Melaka International Trade Centre Ayer Keroh Sports Hall.

The Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist had finished a runner-up on three occasions at the AKF Senior Championships, but a score of 44.1 helped her to prevail over the Olympic silver medallist Shimizu who notched 43.5.

There was success for Japan in the men's kata as Kakeru Nishiyama narrowly overcame Kuwait's Mohammad Husain by 42.3 to 42.2.

In the kumite competition, it was a successful opening day for Iran, who took two golds.

Jordan's Olympic bronze medallist Abdelrahman Al-Masatfa was among the winners on day one of the AKF Senior Championships ©Getty Images
Jordan's Olympic bronze medallist Abdelrahman Al-Masatfa was among the winners on day one of the AKF Senior Championships ©Getty Images

Benhman Dehghanzadeh beat Jordan's Omar Shaqrah 7-4 in the men's under-55 kilograms final, and Atousa Goldshadnezhad triumphed 3-0 over the United Arab Emirates' Sarah Alameri in the women's under-61kg decider.

Jordanian Olympic bronze medallist Abdelrahman Al-Masatfa defended his men's under-67kg title with a 6-2 victory against Kazakhstan's Didar Amirali.

Another Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist in Kazakhstan's Sofya Berultseva took the day's other gold by beating Vietnam's Vang Thi Ngoc My 1-0 through a last-second yuko.

The AKF Senior Championships is set to continue in Malacca tomorrow and on Sunday (July 23), while the Asian Para-Karate Championships is also scheduled for tomorrow.