Croatia is bringing home eight medals from the European Games in Minsk, held from June 21 to 30, 2019.

After exactly ten competitive days at the Dinamo Stadium in Minsk, the second European Games came to an end, reports HRT on June 30, 2019.

Our Croatian representatives are returning home with eight medals, of which two are gold, one is silver and five are bronze.

Croatia’s last chance to win a medal came from wrestler Ivan Huklek, who unfortunately remained one step away from the podium. 

Namely, Huklek was stopped in his last hurdle to a medal. After losing in the semifinal on Saturday to Azerbaijani Islam Abbasov in the 87kg category, he lost the third-place fight on Sunday to Hungarian Viktor Lorincz with a score of 7-1.

Thus, the Croatian delegation returns from Minsk with eight medals won. Croatia’s two gold medals were won by Lucija Babić in the sambo and Ivan Kvesić in the 84 kg category in karate. Ivan's brother Anđelo won the silver in the heavyweight category. Croatia's bronze medals were won by boxers Marko Milun and Toni Filipi, judoist Barbara Matić, table tennis player Tomislav Pucar, and shooter Mario Vavro.

With eight medals, Croatia took 28th place at the European Games this summer. 

The most successful athletes in Mink were from Russia who counted 109 medals - with 44 gold, 23 silver, and 42 bronze medals. Second place was secured by Belarus, who won 24 gold and a total of 69 medals, while in third is Ukraine who won 15 gold medals and 50 medals in total. 

HOO

The closing ceremony on Sunday featured all of the athletic participants, and martial artist Ivan Kvesić, who won one of Croatia's gold medals, proudly carried the Croatian flag.

Medals by Country

1. Russia 44 23 42 109 

2. Belarus 24 16 29 69

3. Ukraine 15 17 18 50 

4. Italy 12 15 13 40 

5. The Netherlands 9 13 7 29 

6. Germany 7 6 12 26 

7. Georgia 6 10 14 30 

8. France 6 9 13 28 

9. United Kingdom 6 9 8 23 

10. Azerbaijan 5 9 13 27 

11. Armenia 5 3 3 11 

12. Spain 5 2 6 13 

13. Hungary 4 6 9 19 

14. Slovenia 4 1 1 6 

14. Belgium 4 1 1 6 

16. Bulgaria 3 7 8 18 

17 Portugal 3 6 6 15 

18. Switzerland 3 3 4 10 

19. Israel 3 3 1 7 

20 Greece 3 2 4 9 

28 CROATIA 2 1 5 8

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The karate gold and silver has come to Croatia thanks to the brilliant Kvesić brothers from Karate club Hercegovina-Zagreb. At this year's European Games in Minsk, Ivan Kvesić won the gold medal while his brother Anđelo Kvesić secured the silver.

On Saturday, Croatian martial artist Ivan Kvesić won the karate gold medal at the European Games in Minsk. The World Champion defeated Turkish martial artist Ugur Aktas in the final of the category up to 84 kilos by the decision of the judges after the fight ended 0-0, reports Fight Site.hr.

Ivan Kvesić achieved three wins in the same number of appearances in his group and as the winner of the group, he secured himself a spot in the semifinal. Kvesić was better than Kosovar Alvin Karaqi 5-0, Montenegrin Nikola Malović 2-0, and Ukrainian Valerii Chobotar 3-0. In the semifinal, he defeated Italian Michele Martina 8-0.

Ivan’s brother, Anđelo Kvesić, lost to Asiman Gurbanli from Azerbaijan with a score of 0-1 in the final of the 84 kilo category to secure the silver. 

Anđelo Kvesić also won first place in his group. He defeated Serbian Slobodan Bitević 2-0, then by the decision of the judges, defeated Belarusian Aliaksei Vodchyts, even though the duel ended 2-2, and held 0-0 against Georgian Gogita Arkania, which was enough for both of the fighters to place in the semifinal. In the semifinal, Anđelo Kvesić defeated Jonathan Horne of England with a score of 1-0 and lost to Asiman Gurbanli from Azerbaijan 0-1.

These aren’t the only medals for Croatia at the European Games in Minsk, either. Namely, Croatia has thus far won 8 medals -  Croatia’s female athletes Lucija Babić is a gold medalist in sambo, while Barbara Matić won the bronze in Judo. 

Tomislav Pucar won the bronze in table tennis, Toni Filipi and Marko Milun secured the bronze in boxing, and Mario Vavro achieved the bronze in shooting.

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