The national team of the Bulgarian Karate Kyokushin Federation (BKKF) returned home with the impressive 13 medals (4gold, 6 silver and 3 bronze) from the kyokushin open in Belarus. The “Gomel” cup took place in Saturday with the participation of 250 karateka from Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Iran, Russia, Belarus and Bulgaria.
The group was welcomed at Varna Airport today and coaches shared that we could have had more medals and titles.
“We could have done it better – we missed 2 more titles – said sensei Zhivko Andreev at the airport – one of the coaches of junior males and females. – We lost the finals literally in the last few seconds. Traditionally, our greatest opponents were Russians, and unexpectedly Iranians put a lot of resistance. They were even more resilient than ‘sbornaya’. We did our analyses, we noted all errors of our contestants and we will work on correcting them in order to avoid their reoccurrence during the world championship. In Belarus we were able to see the new wave of Bulgarian Kyokushin.”
11 of our lions fought at the tatami during the “Gomel” cup.
“Our optimistic prognosis of great success in Belarus became reality – said sensei Milush Draganov, the other coach of our young talents. – We did a very respectable representation – 4 gold, 6 silver and 3 bronze medals – a huge achievement for Bulgaria. I am happy and satisfied. Our boys and girls demonstrated our high level at this art, making a statement for even greater triumphs in future competitions. I am also optimistic for the upcoming world championship in November. There we will also do the very best for Bulgaria!”
Sensei Hristo Hristov was attending Belarus as the coach of the men team, which consisted of 7 karateka.
“My prognoses were met. I am happy for Dimitar Dimitrov and his golden medal. He puts heart and soul into his training, but until now something was always missing. He fought tactically correct and got one victory with a beautiful ipon. The Iranians were very strong, but it is exactly those matchups that we need in order to progress. The analyses are to be done with sensei Zahari Damyanov who is the main coach of our national team for the world championship. There is an upcoming camp where the fighters will be preparing for Russia”, said sensei Hristov.
The golden medal went to Dimitar Dimitrov (male, 75 kg), Lachezar Plachorov in category over 75 kg juniors and from the junior females titles went to Zhasmina Yancheva (up to 14 years old, 50 kg) and Simona Ivanova (up to 17 years old, 50 kg).
“I reached a quick knockout at the very start with my preferred hit. The semifinal was against the main favorite in the category, but I managed to beat him in regular time and in the title contest I met my very own teammate Ivan Ivanov”, said Mitko.
“I am very happy with my gold medal. The entire team made an excellent performance. The final match was very difficult and even more against the representative of the hosts, but all referees voted for me and I won”, said Zhasmina who is from the Varna club TIM.
“At the final I met an Ukranian Karateka and I won with no extra time”, added Lachezar.
“The final with the Russian karateka was heavy. She put me out of breath, but no one noticed and that brought me the victory”, added Simona.
Our champions were unanimous about being ready to take on the championships until the end of the year.
Silver medalists in Belarus were Ivan Ivanov (men, 75 kg), Maria Chepilova (junior females over 65 kg), Yani Krastev (juniors, 75 kg), Valentin Valchanov (juniors, 70 kg), Aleksandar Yordanov (men, 85 kg), Miglen Dimitrov (juniors, over 65 kg).
The third place went to: Martina Hadzhiyska (junior females, over 65 kg), Gergana Paunova (junior females, 55 kg), Galya Atanasova (junior females, 50 kg).
Source: chernomore.bg
