Maya 21, 2022 - Ivan Šapina from Marjan Split is the new European champion in taekwondo in the category up to 87 kilograms, while Nika Klepac returns to Zagreb with the silver! 

The Croatia taekwondo team thus reached their fourth and fifth medals at the senior European Championships in Manchester after only two days of competition, reports HRT.

Šapina, a 2020 Tokyo Olympian and a native of Zagreb who competes for Marjan Split, continued to win medals at major competitions after winning bronze at the 2019 World Championships and 2021 European Championships, adding the third medal in a row - his first senior gold medal in major competitions. Šapina celebrated all three fights to the final with over 20 points.

In the round of 16, he defeated Cypriot Andreas Theocharous 26:0. In the quarterfinals, he was better than Ukrainian Vladyslav Bondar by 24:4, while in the semifinals, he defeated Slovenian Patrik Divković by another 24:4.

The final was dramatic though it was nothing for Šapina, who has encountered several nail-biting fights in recent years. After 11-11, the final against the Spaniard Raul Martinez Garcia went to the extra round for a golden point. However, there were no points even after the extra round, so the winner was decided by several attempts by Šapina in the extra round.

Šapina is already the eighth senior European champion from Marjan Split after Ana and Lucija Zaninović, Toni Kanaet, Lovro Brečić, Matea Jelić, Bruno Vuletić and Lena Stojković, which speaks volumes about the systematic work that continued in Split after the departure of the Zaninović sisters.

The silver medal was won by Nika Klepac, a member of Medvedgrad Zagreb, who won in the 73 kg category against the excellent Dutchwoman Reshmia Oogink with a 4:0 golden point and then beat German Alema Hadžić 4:2 in the medal fight. Nika defeated Paule Marie Ble in the semifinals with an incredible 15-8 fight and advanced to the European Championship final against another Frenchwoman who was still too strong. Laurin took the gold to France (16:0).

Nika Petanjek was close to the medal, which started in the round of 16 with a 9:6 victory over Spaniard Tania Castineira. In the quarterfinals, Nika started great, leading 4:0 and holding the advantage until the last few seconds when the experienced Pole Aleksandra Kowalczuk turned the fight around and went to the semifinals, winning 5:6.

With the gold at the President's Cup in Albania, Ivan Šapina secured Croatia extra spots in the category up to 87 kilograms, which was completed by his club colleague Josip Bilić Pavlinović. In the first round, Pavlinović won against the Romanian Snacov 23:5, and in the next round, he lost to the third seed, German Bachmann, 9:29.

In the category up to 58 kilograms, Fran Šerer from Ion Zagreb competed in the round of 16 and was stopped by Spaniard Adrian Vicente Yunta (34:14).

The Championship ends on Sunday.

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April 9, 2021 - Member of Marjan Split Lena Stojković won the gold medal at the European Taekwondo Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria!

On the first day of the competition, the Croatia taekwondo team reached the gold medal in Sofia thanks to 19-year-old Lena Stojković!

Lena defeated Finn Tammila 22-2 in the first round in the category up to 46 kilograms. She went on to achieve an upset in the quarterfinals with an 18-8 victory against Turkey's Yildirim, the current European champion, winner of an incredible seven world and European medals in senior competition, and a competitor in Tokyo this summer in the category up to 49 kilograms.

HTK

In the semifinals, Lena was dominant against Israeli Rivka Bayech with 28-8, and in the grand final, she defeated the Russian Larisa Medvedeva with 18-10 after another phenomenal fight. The total point difference of 86-28 speaks enough about the young Split woman's superiority in Bulgaria.

With this gold medal, Lena completed her collection of medals in all three age categories. Recall, Lena won bronze at the European Championships as a cadet, while in her junior internship, she won bronze at the Youth Olympic Games and world bronze.

HTK

Lena started practicing taekwondo in her kindergarten days and was welcomed by coach Veljko Laura in Blatine, Split. Together with Veljko, she reached the fourth big medal in her career at only 19 years old.

Kristina Tomić also competed on the first day of the European Championship. The evident Olympic candidate lost to Romanian Musteate 29-21 in the first round in the 49 kg category. It should be noted that Tomić has diabetes and that it is certainly not easy to lose five kilograms three months before the Olympic Games, where the Osvita member certainly has the maximum focus. For Tomić, the European Championship was, after all, just a training run for what follows in July.

Bravo, Lena!

Source: Gol.hr

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