The Junior National Team of Bulgaria came back from the International Tournament in Poland with 2 gold, 3 silver and 4 bronze medals. The tournament was hard; there were a lot of competitors and in some categories the fighters had to go through 7 fights for the gold medal. This was the third international tournament organised in Wrozlaw and the participants were very well prepared. Half of them were representing Polish Karate clubs, the rest being from clubs in Ukraine, Hungary, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Austria. Despite the hard tournament in the first round we didn’t have any lost fights except for Krum Andonov and Ayshegul Shen, who fought against opponents much heavier than them. After a very successful first round, victories followed for the Bulgarian team.
Stanislava Boycheva won easily all the fights in category -60kg for girls 18-21 years. Her intelligent fighting technique again didn’t give her opponents any chance in the fight.
Alexandra Marinova won the gold despite the difficult fights in her category +60kg. Her last fight was just few minutes after the previous one.
Nikolai Yorgov won all his fights doing wazari or ipon in his category – 80kg for juniors under 18 years. He lost at the final from the Pyotr Biszak, Poland.
Ivan Ivanov won 3 fights and took the second place in category +80kg. All his opponents were much taller and heavier than him. Despite that, he showed a true fighting spirit and did not stop attacking even for a moment.
Nazife Sabri won the second place in the category -60kg for girls under 18 years. The comments about her were that she was fighting like a Japanese lady warrior. Despite the short time for a rest after the hard semi final, she did her best to win the gold.
Borislav Mihov took the third place in the category -70kg for juniors under 21 years. He drew the attention of the audience and the judges right from the beginning. He managed to surprise his opponents with unusual technique. At the semi final a competitor from Ukraine had to use a forbidden technique (a punch in the throat) with which he managed to eliminate Borislav. The Ukranian main judge announced the Ukrainian competitor as the winner which caused a long pause and arguments among the judges. Borislav was sent to a hospital by the doctors although he showed he was ready to complete the fight.
Dean Bratkov won the third place in category -70kg. He lost at the semi final from a competitor from Poland – the last year’s European champion in the category.
Kristian Stoynov took the bronze after he injured his foot at the quarter final. However, he fought till the end and did his best.
Petia Koleva took the third place after winning many difficult fights. At the semi final she had problems with the head protection but even then she fought well against the champion in this category.
This tournament was a good test for debutants, experienced competitors and coaches as well. The team showed a desire for victory in each fight.
The sponsors –
Armeez have thought about everything to make the journey to Poland fast and convenient. The team was provided with a private airplane flying directly to Wrozlaw. This saved changing flights and waiting time at the airports. The juniors were also provided with food at a traditional Chinese and a Polish restaurants.
