On 29-30 November, the President's Cup, the last G competition of the year, was held in Innsbrück, Austria, at the Olympic Sports Centre, familiar to many Finns from the European Championships two years ago. It was also the first chance to collect selection points for the 2026 World Cup team.
Kirsimarja, Aino and Sofia from TU and about twenty competitors from Finland were there. On Saturday it was the turn of the individual series, with Kirsimarja starting the TU's and at the same time the whole Finnish racing career. Kirsimarja's first opponent was from Germany and was very tough, with the German taking the win. Kirsimarjan's placing was therefore a shared 9th place.
In the afternoon it was the turn of the under 30's, with Aino and Sofia competing in a 48-strong field with 3 other Finns. Aino's first opponent was also from Germany, and in a very close match the score was tied, with Aino winning by presentation. In the first round Sofia was up against a more familiar opponent, Anna Alatalo from Wondo Espoo. Sofia performed well and won, advancing to the 2nd round as well.
In the second round, the competition got tougher, with Aino facing Belgium, the reigning European bronze medallist who was ranked fourth in the series. Aino performed without pressure, defeating the tough Belgian and advancing to the third round. Sofia, meanwhile, was up against an Indian ranked third in the series. The Indian, who eventually won bronze in the series, was too tough this time, with Sofia falling in the 2nd round, resulting in a shared 17th place.
Going into the third round, Aino was the only Finn to continue after the others had already been eliminated, this time by Italy. It wasn't easy again but Aino continued straight on to the next round. In the fourth round we were already in the medal match against the World Championship bronze medallists from Norway. From the first boom Aino had a slight lead, but after the second boom it turned around. The medal was narrowly missed, but Aino got a great 5th place and the best Finnish result in the series!
On Sunday, the pair and group events and freestyle were held. Today it was the younger ones' turn to start, with Sofia and Aino competing in the Team Female U30 category with Mia Knutsson from Wondo Espoo. The first opponent was again Germany. The Finnish team was slightly behind in points in the first poomse, and although they scored better than Germany in the second one, the gap was not narrowed enough and they failed to win, resulting in a bronze medal.
In the U60-couples category Kirsimarja competed with a familiar partner, Antti Vehman (HNMKY Taekwondo). Their first round performance went well as they beat the opposing German pair. After that, they were up against Germany again in the final. This pair already had a long competition career and a lot of experience behind them, and they took the victory. For Kirsimarja and Ant, the result was silver, which was the best Finnish result of the competition, along with Matti Huuskonen (Wondo Espoo) and Sirpa Huuskonen (HNMKY Taekwondo), who competed in the O60 pairs, also winning silver.
Score:
Silver:
- Kirsimarja & Antti Vehman (HNMKY Taekwondo): Pair U60
Bronze:
- Aino, Sofia, Mia Knutsson (Wondo Espoo): Team Female U30
Other investments:
- Aino 5th (Female U30)
- Cherry series 9 (Female U60)
- Sofia 17th (Female U30)
This story has been corrected on 16.12.2025: Sirpa Huuskonen's club corrected to HNMKY and Mati and Sirpa's series corrected to O60.
