Belgium Open 2013 report

A team of taekwondo athletes

Women under 46 kg

Tanja Lovikka – Beth Worthington (GBR) 1 – 8

Cadet girls under 44 kg

Sophia Vassilaki – Viviane Tranquille (CAN) 4 – 8

Sampo Pajulampi was the coach and Kai Lohman was part of the support team.

Good matches

The starting point for the tournament was that both athletes are in their first major European tournament, and thus the expectations for the results were set quite modest. The combination of travel, a gigantic tournament, unknown opponents and opponents known to be tough were already big stress factors beforehand. However, both of our representatives adapted well. Traveling and other activities went like clockwork, and the new things did not prevent high-quality preparation. The situation was therefore good, as both athletes, being almost the same size, were able to work smoothly to support each other in preparation.

Tanya

Tanja already played on Saturday. The weight loss was successful and on the day of the match, the atmosphere was suitably buzzing before the match. The opponent came from England and represented a good international middle level. Tanja didn't quite stay on board yet, because the opponent's good move closed the close match and the distances remained too long despite a good effort. However, good performance, and the development targets were easy to analyze. After working on them, we are one step further.

Sophia

Sophia's match on Sunday was an exciting battle. The opponent, who was almost two years older, was a strong fighter. Hard kicks combined with good technique were a combination worthy of a bronze medal. Sophia's back spin kick in the second round hit the neck and the judges drew points for a long time, because the cadets did not have video review. However, there were no points and the rest of the match was spent in chasing positions. Sophia was very involved in the match, but in the last moments no more points were scored.

Summary of the team

The performances were good, but there is work to be done. The jump to this level from the domestic games is big, and success requires a new gear in the eye.

General considerations

In general, I followed the matches of Tanja and Sophia's series the most, but of course with a side eye I managed to catch a glimpse of other Finns' matches as well as the whole tournament in general.

Aces High

In general, it can be said that the battle is won or lost in the air. This applies especially to the women's and smaller men's series, why not top-end matches in the big men's as well. Tactically, you have to take into account that the other can hit up once and playing zero zero like this is not an option. In addition, your focus must be on the main hits and playing them open. Your own protection must be functional and the coach must be alert with the card game.

The general formula doesn't work

The formulaic contestants did not succeed in the competition. The winning type relied on its own basic strengths, was able to reset the opponent's basic strengths and, above all, managed to surprise its opponent. More and more attention should be paid to this.

You have to have a big bunch of different basic schemes in your back pocket. You have to know how to read the opponent's basic pattern and handle your own plot with honor. In addition, you must be able to break your own and the opponent's patterns.

The arrangements didn't work either

The tournament was quite chaotic, so it served as a good school for the inexperienced team. However, for cadets, paying 50 euros for two sets of matches without video review is a little unfortunate. Especially when getting to the match was an endless grind in various places.

All results can be found at http://www.tpss.nl/Resultdetail.asp?ID=135

Next, the train is heading Nurmijärvi through to Spain.

Here's Tanja's match one set at a time:

Sampo Pajulampi