The second league competition of the fall was played in Porvoo on Saturday 14.10. and Taekwondo athletes are well represented as usual, especially in the league series. The competitions went very well: some of the contestants had made clear strides in development, some surpassed themselves on the competition mat, and some improved their basic game. Some areas of development were also found under the watchful eyes of the coaches, Juho, Pauli and Mari mulled it over with each other, and these are used to shape exercises for the next games.

A double win for Plum in the league series

The matches in the league series were fast-paced and it was nice to watch especially the young players hungry for victory. As usual, Plum Kopisto competed in two series, cadets and juniors, and a double victory in these series is starting to become a tradition. However, the golden medals did not find their way around the neck of the workhorse for free, but the constant stalking of the kick spot combined with the will to score points produced results again. In the cadets' final, clubmate Lauri Hulikkala faced Plum, who put in a lot of effort, but this time he still didn't manage to win the match. Let it be mentioned in Lauri's favor that the fighter fought the rest of the match with a broken arm without even flinching. Only after the match did Lauri start to realize that this hand is a bit sore.

Aino Kortelainen and Jenny Vettenniemi also took a mutual tie in the cadets, the first of whom managed to turn the match around. Jenny fought well, but Aino's competitive spirit was so good today that she went all the way to the series win and silver in the second series. Silver was also won by Janika Tatti, who showed her tremendous pace of development for the second day in a row after Friday's belt test on the Porvoo racing mats. The same can also be said about Lucas, whose match was, at its best, an international-level kicking match. Unfortunately, we were satisfied with silver and bronze from these scraps, but as the kicks start to hit the goal better, the medals will surely become brighter in the near future.

Tuikku Holopainen also belonged to the doubles team, and Tuikku won gold from the cadets and bronze from the juniors. The accurate Tuikku also seemed to be in control of forward attack combinations in the tight final of his cadet series, which he managed to turn from a losing position into a victory. We want to see more of these aggressive bursts in the future! Emilia Lahti competed in the juniors and this time she missed the first match, but just fine. Emmi also dug out one point after another from the chasing position, but the tie was unfortunately one kick away in the last moments of the match.

Bardia Mirzaei fought in the adults, when there were no opponents in the junior series. Bardia's will to win was transmitted even to the last rows of benches in the audience, and the first match was handled with a great victory. In a tight final, Bardia unfortunately had to admit that his opponent was better at the end of an even match. Sami Leskinen and Eduard Korolevskiy also competed in adults and in the same series. However, a mutual match was not seen and the final result was bronze for Sam and silver for Eduard.

Great performances from the first timers

In the children's and amateurs' series, Taekwondo athletes had a gratifying number of first-timers, even though the team was otherwise of a moderate size. Alina Shor and Teresa Vepsä were both taking part in the national championships for the first time, and if there was tension in the air, at least you couldn't see it from these competitors. Alina and Teresa played good matches with open-mindedness, but unfortunately both lost their way in the first match by a hair's breadth. The same happened to Kaisla Seimola and Risto Hyvärinen, both of whom have already toured a few competitions. Losses in Porvoo, but it's still good to continue towards the Vantaa Games!

Kian Nowrouzi was also at the games for the first time and did not shy away from his more experienced opponents at all. Two wins guaranteed a place in the final, and in the same way, his teammate Aleksi Koskelainen advanced from the other side of the chart. The mutual encounter was a fast-paced and high-quality performance, which was finally turned in favor by Aleksi. A double win in this big series was a great performance from the boys!

Best judge award for Ali

Taekwondo competitions can be experienced in many ways. Ali Lahti has chosen the judge's perspective, and there hasn't been a competition this year where Ali hasn't been seen as a judge, including indoor competitions in his own hall. Ali's professionalism has grown from competition to competition and the grips are firm, as a good judge should be. Ali left Porvoo with the best judge's statue under his arm. Awesome!

All results

Congratulations to all medalists!