Taekwondo – European Championship: Karol Robak’s gold medal!

Carol Robak won the gold medal at the 24th European Taekwondo Championship in Sofia today. The pole turned out to be the best in the category of -74 kg. This is the second gold medal in the history of the Poles, starting in the Old Continent Championship.

AZS player Pozna, who made himself known to the Polish public a few years ago with his impressive performances at the European Games in Baku and the Olympic Games in Rio, was suspended in 2018 due to a serious injury, after which he returned to the optimum level. For several months and make sure of today’s performance that this comeback can be considered successful and in a very good time. Robak changed the weight class to a higher class (previously competing in the -68 kg class) and less than a month (7-9 May) ahead of the crucial European qualifying tournament for the Tokyo Olympics (which, incidentally, will be) being held in Sofia), stating that He would be very powerful in the fight for the Olympic pass.

Robak started with a duel with Italian Samuele Baliva. Although he was losing after the first round, he quickly caught up with the rhythm and finally won convincingly 17: 7. In the 1/8 finals he had a tougher finish in theory – the host’s actor (though he’s from Iran), Farzad Zolgadry, Ranked 4th seed, the pole got an advantage in the first round, and at the end showed an amazing combination (pie + headshot), which greatly increased the point difference and clearly deprived the Bulgarian of his will to fight. The duel ended prematurely after Robak gained a 20-point advantage over his opponent in the third round. The end result of the fight is 34:14.

The decisive quarter-final confrontation with German Eduard Drollau confirmed only the pole’s high disposition. The worm caught the correct tempo and the opponent in most of the duel was unable to penetrate our actor’s defense. The fight was in control of AZS player Pozna from start to finish and finally ended with a score of 19:10. The semi-final match with Spain’s “one” seed Daniel Quesada also went according to Carole Robak’s plan from the start, although it eventually became very tense, when the bronze medalist at the last World Championships began to redeem points. Very fast. Fortunately, the Polish man managed to defend himself and finally won 27:23, thus advancing to the Final.

In his fight for gold, he meets Boynac Nydzad Hosic, whose presence in the final match was also a small surprise. Robak won the first round 6-2, but in the second round, Hosic was a bit better, as he was able to recoup one point. The last version was very emotional, the Bosnian scored even one point, but Karol Robak managed to defend himself and finally won at 16:12, winning his first European title (he also took a bronze medal 3 years ago in the -68 kg category). This is the second gold medal in the history of Polish Taekwing players in the European Championship, after Alexandra Kwaljok won three years ago in Kazan.

On the other hand, other white and red competitors were unsuccessful. Julia Serida (-62 kg) lost in the first battle with the Greek Eleni Vasileiadou 8:12, and Adrian Wojtkowiak (-80 kg), also in the first battle, lost to the Ukrainian Denys Woronowski 15:17.

Tomorrow, on the final day of the tournament, we will see Alexandra Kwalczuk and Mikwaj Zafirsky in competition.

Medalists on the third day of the 24th European Olympic Taekwondo Championship:

Kat. -62 kg K:

1 – Bruna Voleتش (Croatia)

2 – Marija Sti (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

3 – Erem Yaman (Turkey)

3 – Christina Prokodina (Russia)

17. -23. Julia Serida

Kat. -67 kg K:

1 – Mattia Gelic (Croatia)

2 – Lauren Williams (Great Britain)

3 – Nur Tatar (Turkey)

3 – Magda Witt – Heineen (France)

Kat. 74 kg m:

1. Carol Roback

2 – Ndzad Hosi (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

3 – Daniel Quesada (Spain)

3. Badr Achab (Belgia)

Kat. -80 kg m:

1 – Maxim Khramco (Russia)

2 Milad Baiji (Azerbaijan)

3 – Simone Alessio (Italy)

3 – Raul Martinez (Spain)

17. -28. Adrian Voitkoviak