A team of taekwondo athletes in action in Sofia

Easter can be spent in many ways, and one of the best is of course participating in taekwondo competitions. Sara, Venne, Alina, Chahra and Chaimaa showed their skills in the Sofia Open 2019 G1 competitions and the results speak for themselves.

Sara had a real top day when first the G1 medalist from Serbia and then the reigning champion from Cyprus hit the road. The Ukrainian opponent in the finals had also collected sea rites and we could see a ticklingly even battle. Until the very end, the situation could have turned either way, but in the end, Sara was satisfied with the silver. A great performance by Saralata considering that every opponent was almost a head taller.

Chaimaa played semi-fit after being ill, but still styled an excellent opening win against Greece. The semi-final was also the tightest and a solution was sought all the way to the overtime. Unfortunately, this time the points go to the opponent. Of course, it was left in the tooth, because Chaimaa caught several headers that looked clear, but for one reason or another there were no points. Nicely, however, a bronze medal and the results show that brighter medals are within reach.

Chahra's confident moves continued after the silver at the Belgian Games. In the opening match, Australia fell 13-7. In the semifinals, he faced a tough Serbian, who this time took a longer shot and thus Chahra's ranking was fifth.

Venne fought an excellent match while still recovering from illness. The match was even, but it's hard to keep up the pace when you're half fit, so the match unfortunately went to Ukraine. An excellent race experience for Venne, however. Also a sad opening loss for Alina, but all the same a backpack of valuable experience to take home.

In addition to the results, the competition trip also left a good taste in my mouth. Eddy and Fatima, who were the coaches, got the team in an excellent mood and the team spirit was high. All Finns were there as one group and helped and encouraged each other. Great!

Big congratulations to the medalists!