WKF and EKF President Antonio Espinós travelled to Ljubljana (Slovenia) to attend the 23rd edition of the Balkan Karate Championships for Cadets, Juniors and U21. The event was hailed as a success, with over 1100 athletes from 13 Balkan countries participating.
The powerhouse nation of Turkiye topped the final medal table of the event with a total of 43 medals, including 13 golds, followed by Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Promising karatekas such as 2021 Junior Continental champion Damla Su Turemen of Turkiye, defending U21 continental titleholder Nejra Sipovic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, current Junior World champion Emre Saljiu of Montenegro, and current U21 World Championships runner-up Vitomir Trajkovski of North Macedonia were among the stars of the tournament.
As a showcase of the remarkable impact of the event, the opening ceremony of the competition was attended by the Vice President of the Slovenian Olympic Committee Miran Kos, the State Secretary of Slovenia’s Ministry of Sport Dejan Zidan, together with WKF and EKF President Antonio Espinós, EKF General Secretary and President of the Karate Federation of Balkan Davor Cipek, Karate Federation of Balkan General Secretary and EKF Vice President Slavoljub Piper and Slovenian Karate Federation President Borut Strojin.
Moreover, a delegation of Karate officials was welcomed at the City Hall of Ljubljana by Mayor Zoran Jankovic. The representatives of Karate, who were headed at the meeting by WKF and EKF President Antonio Espinós shared the particularities of the event with the city officials and thanked Ljubljana’s main authorities for their cooperation in hosting the event.
Prior to the competition, the Karate Federation of Balkan celebrated its Congress in Ljubljana to analyse the progress of the sport in the region. Headed by Karate Federation of Balkan President and EKF General Secretary Davor Cipek, managed by Karate Federation of Balkan General Secretary and EKF Vice President Slavoljub Piper, and with WKF and EKF President Antonio Espinós in attendance, the plenary session reviewed the foundations of the expansion of the sport in the region.
A progress report to pave the way for the development of the organisation in future years elaborated by Karate Federation of Balkan General Secretary Slavoljub Piper, as well as the financial state of the organisation were among the main points of the agenda.
WKF and EKF President Antonio Espinós said:
“One of the main key elements to attest to the progress of Karate in Europe is that the regional championships of our sport are achieving greater relevance and growing more and more in popularity and excellence. That is the case of the Karate Federation of Balkan and the fantastic event of this weekend in Ljubljana. We could witness how Karate has become one of the most popular sports in the region due to the efforts of the Karate Federation of Balkan.
“I want to thank Slovenian Karate Federation president Borut Strojin for hosting this event and Karate Federation of Balkan President Davor Cipek and BKF General Secretary Slavoljub Piper for their efforts to continue taking Karate to new heights in the Balkan countries.”
(Top picture: WKF and EKF President Antonio Espinós, EKF General Secretary and President of the Karate Federation of Balkan Davor Cipek, and Karate Federation of Balkan General Secretary and EKF Vice President Slavoljub Piper (centre seated) pose with the representatives of the Balkan countries at the congress of the Karate Federation of Balkan)
WKF and EKF President Antonio Espinós, EKF General Secretary and President of the Karate Federation of Balkan Davor Cipek, Karate Federation of Balkan General Secretary and EKF Vice President Slavoljub Piper, and Slovenian Karate Federation president Borut Strojin during the meeting of the Executive Committee of the Karate Federation of Balkan.
The Balkan Karate Championships for Cadet, Junior and U21 gathered over 1100 athletes from 13 countries.
From left to right: Slovenian Karate Federation president Borut Strojin, WKF and EKF President Antonio Espinós, President of the Organising Committee of the Balkan Championships Blaz Zibret, Mayor of Ljubljana Zoran Jankovic, EKF General Secretary and Karate Federation of Balkan President Davor Cipek, Karate Federation of Balkan General Secretary and EKF Vice President Slavoljub Piper, and Ljubljana Deputy Mayor Dejan Crnek.