The best European student karateists fought for medals in the Kumite disipline at Bojan Stranić Volleyball Hall. When translated from Japanese, kumite literally means ‘grappling hands’, and it denotes individual fights. This discipline is very attractive for the audience, as could be seen on the third day of the karate competition when the karateists were supported by many of their colleagues and friends.
In the men’s category up to 60 kg, the winner was Richard Dobrotka, a student from the Matej Bel University from Slovakia. He shared his good mood with us after winning the gold medal.
I’m overjoyed because this is my first important medal after a lot of competitions. All of my friends are happy for me, but I think my father is the happiest. He was also a karateist and he taught me to love the sport when I was a child, and now I’m continuing what I would love to become a family tradition.
The first favourite of the women’s competition was Ana Lenard, who won the bronze medal at the first European Games in Baku last year. Ana, who is a student at the University of Zagreb, won the gold medal in the category up to 61 kg. At the last night’s opening ceremony of the European Universities Games 2016, she took an oath on behalf of all athletes. When asked if she was more nervous last night when swearing an oath or today during the competition, she said :
I didn’t know until yesterday that I would taking the oath the athletes, so I didn’t have a lot of time to think about it. I was honoured they chose me. However, I was more nervous during today’s competition because my friends from high school and the University of Applied Health Sciences came to cheer for me. I wanted to win for them.
Ana is currently training for the main event of the season, the World Championship in October. The Games can be considered a part of this training, and she is particularly fond of the gold medal because she won it at home in front of her colleagues and friends.
The great event full of attractive moves was concluded with the medal ceremony in five categories for men and women.
Mihael and Franko, 7-year-old karateists from the karate club Hrvatski Dragovoljac, participated in the medal ceremony by demonstrating a sparring session. They started training karate at the age of three. They are starting school this autumn, so Franko revealed to us his current biggest concern.
I’m not sure how I will coordinate school and training. I hope my coach Mario will be accommodating because I will have a lot of homework and I won’t have as much time as before.
Franko is a big fan of karate fights because in them you have to act quickly, while Mihael is a big fan of Kata.
Kata are more difficult because you have to concentrate harder and you can’t make mistakes. I love the feeling I get when I execute Kata correctly.
The guests from the Yuki karate school from Brežice in Slovenia did an impressive demonstration with sabres, breaking wooden boards. The medical volunteers were left speechless by their stunts. Katja Avsec is a nursing student from Slovenia, and Tina Krmpotić is a sports physiotherapist from Zagreb. During the karate competition in the last few days, they treated, together with their fellow pharmacists and professional doctors, what were mostly nose injuries. They both agreed that this was an invaluable professional experience for them. They revealed to us that karateists fake injuries less than, for example, teams sports players. They were amazed by the confidence, discipline and precision of all karateists. And the winners truly had such traits! Congratulations!
