Ilja Smorguner

Ilja Smorguner is a German karateka. He is a two-time medalist in the men's individual kata event at the World Karate Championships.
Smorguner represented Germany at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. He competed in the Karate at the [2020 Summer Olympics – Men's kata|men's kata] event.

Career

In 2017, Smorguner competed in the Karate at the [2017 World Games – Men's kata|men's kata] event at the World Games held in Wrocław, Poland. He lost his matches in the elimination round and he did not advance to compete in the semi-finals. In 2018, he lost his bronze medal match in the 2018 [World Karate Championships – Men's individual kata|men's individual kata] event at the World Karate Championships held in Madrid, Spain. In 2019, he lost his bronze medal match in the Karate at the [2019 European Games – Men's individual kata|men's individual kata] event at the 2019 European Games held in Minsk, Belarus. In that year, he also competed in the men's individual kata event at the 2019 World Beach Games held in Doha, Qatar.
In 2021, Smorguner competed at the World Olympic Qualification Tournament held in Paris, France hoping to qualify for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. He did not qualify at this tournament but he qualified after reassignment of the last qualifying spots. He finished in 4th place in his pool in the elimination round of the Karate at the 2020 [Summer Olympics – Men's kata|men's kata] event and he did not advance to the next round. In November 2021, he competed at the 2021 World Karate Championships held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.