Italy’s rising young and promising top tier karateka, Andrea Nekoofa, died at the age of a mere 20 years, succumbing to injuries caused by an accident that occurred in Greece while he was enjoying a much needed vacation with his girlfriend.
The unfortunate incident is said to be a result of an accident involving a quad bike in Greece. The young star took this vacation after playing series after series of both local and international tournaments, of which the most recent event was the 2017 World Karate Federation Youth Cup which was held in Umag, Croatia. Andrea Nekoofar showed top form and consistent performance throughout the event which was finally confirmed when he emerged victorious on top of many other professional top tier youth karatekas. Nekoofar winning the gold medal at the 2017 World Karate Federation Youth Cup was a major impetus to the Italian karate fraternity’s morale and enthusiasm as his performance and consistency was very promising which built hope of a potential medal at the upcoming Olympics which is to be held in Tokyo in 2020 where Karate will be hosted as an Olympic event for the very first time.
Through the build up to the 2017 World Karate Federation Youth Cup, Andrea Nekoofar took part in the Karate 1 Premier League tournament which was held in Dubai in April 2016 and followed by participating at the Karate 1 Premier League tournament held in Rabat 2016. Nekoofar went on to represent Italy at the 2017 Karate 1 Premier League tournament held in Dubai in March which was followed by his participation at the 2017 World Karate Federation Youth Cup where he won his gold medal. Andrea Nekoofar tallied in the world rankings with an aggregate of 540 points.
Born in the city of Milan in Italy, Andrea Nekoofar was privileged by his family’s rich reputation in the sport. He is the son of Jimmy Nekoofar and the National Coordinator of Karate Csen Delia Piralli. He studied at the Catholic University and followed Karate as his true passion. In pursuit of this passion, he succeeded in getting into the Italian Army Sports Center’s team and was scheduled to take part in the Karate 1 Premier League tournament to be held in September in Lepzig/Halle and was preparing to participate in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The Karate fraternity will miss this young talent who left his mark on the tatmi.
