On the last day of the EC, Saturday April 29th, the team lost in teamsparring against Moldova.
EC
European Championships 2023
Day 2 of the competition, April 27th
On this second day of the competition Belgium had only one competitor performing: Esther Meulemeester was up into power breaking in the afternoon. In this female senior power breaking competition 19 competitors participated. Esther was the 6th on the list. Her goal was to do better than last year, and she managed…. she broke all boards in both sonkal taerigi and yopcha chirugi, gaining 15 points. At that moment Poland had 21 points, Romania 16, while 3 other women shared the third place with Esther. She was in the running for a tie break for bronze until the last country… Hungary broke all boards and had to run a tie break with Poland for gold and silver, Romania won bronze, while Esther and the 3 other competitors with 15 points share the 4th place.
Anyhow, she can be very proud on this achievement, setting new goals for next championships, making progression in this discipline step by step.
European Championships 2023
April 26th 2023
On this first competition day 4 belgian competitors had to perform.
Andreea Musca started in the category tul female 4-6 degree in a pre-round against Italy. Although Andreea performed very well, the Italian competitor was just a bit better. She became Europen Champion later that day. Wim Vermeir competed in the category tul male 4-6 degree. He was up against Scotland and although everyone was convinced he won that bout, the umpires decided otherwise. Also Wim’s adversaire won bronze in that category.
The same happened with Tomas Chacon Torrealba in tul male 2 degree, his Italian adversaire won the bout although he performed very well. Rune Schuddinck was the last belgian competitor on this Wednesday morning. He won the first bout in tul male 1 degree against Moldova, but had to admit his Norvegian adversaire in the second bout, a former European champion, was better.
In the afternoon Andreea and Tomas performed in pre-arranged free sparring. They were up against Sweden. At first the referees decided on a draw, after the second performance Belgium lost the bout….. although like in the morning all were convinced it was a win.
Not a succesful or happy day for Belgium, but more is to come in the next days.
European Championships 2023
The belgian team & delegation arrived safely in Cluj-Napoica, Romania on Monday April 24th for the 2023 European Championships. The registration, weigh-in and accreditation went smoothly, everyone is ready to start the competition.
The opening ceremony is planned for Tuesday evening April 25th, on the program for Wednesday April 26th: tul & pre-arranged free sparring. Female power breaking is scheduled for Thursday afternoon, sparring and male power breaking on Friday. On the agenda for Friday evening: the yearly AETF Congress Meeting. On Saturday the belgian team is competing in team sparring.
The delegation will be back in Belgium on Sunday morning.
If you want to keep update on how the team is doing, stay tunes through this website or through the Facebook page & Instagram account.
European Championships 2023 – Belgian delegation
Cluj-Napoca, Romania April 24th-30th
Athletes:
Tul (Individual):
Andreea Musca (senior female 4-6 Dan)
Wim Vermeir (senior male 4-6 Dan)
Tomas Chacon (senior male 2 Dan)
Rune Schuddinck (senior male 1 Dan)
Pre-arranged Free Sparring (senior) : Andreea Musca and Tomas Chacon
Power Breaking (Individual):
Esther Meulemeester (senior female)
Hans Van Lierde (senior male)
Wim Vermeir (senior male)
Sparring (Individual):
Andreea Musca (senior female –50 kg)
Rahimsha Ghafori ( senior male –57 kg)
Omar El Ferkhani (senior male –63 kg)
Vladimir Kim (senior male –63 kg)
Rune Schuddinck (senior male –70 kg)
Tomas Chacon (senior male –70 kg)
Jérémie Bewa (senior male–78 kg)
Driss El Hmoud (senior male –85 kg)
Sparring (Senior Male Team): Rahimsha Ghafori, Omar El Ferkhani, Vladimir Kim, Rune Schuddinck, Tomas Chacon, Jérémie Bewa, Driss El Hmoud
Umpires & IT-assistants: Master Eddy Van Damme, Benito Martinez, Sophie Ardenoy
Coaches: Nicolas Taylor, Andreea Musca, Wim Vermeir, Hans Van Lierde
Officials: GrandMaster Frank Vanberghen, Master Annick Van Driessche, Master Virginia Dionisi
Supporters: Rita Vermeulen, Dirk Mertens, Iudith Rita Musca, Liviu Musca, Laurine Torrealba Chacon, Gino Vandervaren