Sunday May 11th, Mother’s Day, in the sunny city of Ghent for the first time the Dragon Cup was organized by Taekwon-Do Club Gent, with attendance from Belgium, The Netherlands, GD Luxemburg and Germany.
There was competition for all ages and grades in several disciplines: tul, teamtul, kids sparring, sparring, teamsparring, special techniques and power breaking.
This first edition was a success, a new tradition has been set.
Results available on Sportsdata: click here.
A bronze medal for Belgium on the 2025 European Championships in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Altan Rinchinov takes the third place in senior sparring -57kg after winning from Spain and being withdrawn from the fight against Ireland due to medical reasons.
On day 1 of the competition, in the morning after the opening ceremony – where Master Annick presented the certificates for the newly promoted European GrandMasters in the name of ITF – two Belgian competitors came in the ring.
Altan won his first bout against Hungary in pattern 1st degree, but had to face Norway in the second round, a very experienced competitor.
Cedrik, on his first EC, as junior was up in powerbreaking. He was quite nervous but within time he will gain the experience to become a very good asset.
The second day of the competition, Friday April 25th, started with sparring junior -49kg for Helin. She fought well against Slovakia, but she lost the fight. The same morning Hans was up in power breaking senior male, in a category with 28 competitors. Hans could break all boards with ab choomok chirugi and yop chagi, and hhad 1 point with bandae dollyo chagi. Unfortunately 5 competitors were able to break all of the boards.
In the afternoon Lara was up in junior female sparring -53kg. She fought as a lioness, with a lot of heart, and won the first (hard) bout against Italy. In the second fight she had to face Ukraine. The two girls were on the same level, this time Ukraine managed to win the game, but it was very tight. The last belgian competitor of the day was Kilan in special techniques. After his first EC last year, as junior, he already had to compete in the senior division as he turned 18. A big difference in centimeters…. but it looks very promising. No problem at all in twymio nomo yop chagi, while Kilan – although he can do the technique during the training sessions – only just missed twymio nopi chagi… not even a centimeter. In all of the other 3 techniques the height was reached, the boards were smashed, but the umpires did not approve the technique.
On the 3rd day of the competition Lara and Helin had to start in the morning, in pattern junior 1st degree. Helin was up against Italy, performed well, explosive, technically better dan her opponent, but 3 of the umpires decided otherwise. Lara won her first 2 bouts, against Holland and Romania, facing Poland for a spot in the semi final. She did well, but the Polish girl was slightly better and so Lara just misses the podium. However her trajectory was impressive.
Altan was up next, in sparring -57kg. He won the first fight against Spain. His next adversaire was Ireland. Altan had to withdraw after a while due to the concussion policy. He could not see clear anymore, and health is more important than the fight. Still, because of the first win Altan is on the podium, winning bronze in the category.
In the afternoon session both Vladimir and Kilan were up in sparring senior male -69kg. Vladimir was the first one. He had to face a competitor from England, which won the fight with 4 to 0. Kilan was up some bouts later, facing Sweden. It was a fair, technical and nice fight. This time Sweden took the win.
The last discipline for ITF-Belgium on this day and this competition was the junior female power breaking, with Heidi and Helin both doing great in a category with 26 girls. Both girls broke all boards in 4 of the 5 techniques, only missing bandae dollyo chagi, being in the running for a bronze medal for a long time. Unfortunately some -few- girls were able to break all of the techniques, and so the medals were divided among them. However for both of them it was the first power breaking competition on such level, so it’s very promising.
Tuesday April 22nd the Belgian delegation arrived in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
On Wednesday April 23rd there was the registration of the countries, the weigh-in of the competitors, the coach meeting and the umpire meeting. In the evening, starting at 20.00h, the AETF Congress Meeting is scheduled, with elections for a new President and Board.
Thursday April 24th is the official opening of the event, starting with the opening ceremony. On the first competition day 2 belgian athletes will come in action: Altan Rinchinov in tul male senior I° degree and Cédrik Baert in junior male power breaking. Both of them will enter the ring in the morning.
🗓 Date: Sunday, April 13, 2025 at 19h00
🗣 Language: English
👥 Who can attend? While the webinar is primarily designed for coaches, all members are welcome to participate!
This session will explore key topics such as:
✅ Where motivation comes from and how to foster it
✅ The impact of communication, feedback, and emotional regulation
✅ Building strong coach-athlete relationships
✅ Creating a mastery-oriented training environment
✅ How coaches influence athletes’ self-perception
This is the second webinar with Ursa Terdin, organized by the Committee.
