14th World Traditional Karate Championship ITKF, Vilnius (Lithuania)
14th World Traditional Karate Championship
11-12 October 2008, Vilnius, Lithuania
The greatest success of Polish traditional karate in history!
In the 14th World Traditional Karate Championship Poles won 10 medals!
174 competitors from 27 countries competed in the championships. In the hall “Siemens Arena” which was filled to capacity, karate fighters competed in 11 competitions. The Polish team won 3 gold, 5 silver and 2 bronze medals in the championships!
Marta Niewczas defended the title of the world champion, winning a gold medal in ko-go kumite. She assessed her participation in the championships as more mature than in the previous ones. “Apart from the experience in the technique I am guided by practical wisdom, I look at the fight tactics differently. Following the birth of my son I had little time to gather my strength, train systematically and participate in all trainings. To hear “Dabrowski’s Mazurka” [Polish national anthem] is a mystical feeling. I would like to say thank you to everyone who has helped me” – she said after the championships.
Gold medal was also won in grand style by the Polish female fighter- Katarzyna Krzywanska in individual kata, after her one-year break from participation in competitions. “I was stressed with the participation, but now I am happy. I am glad I will go down in the history by winning the first gold medal for Poland in the history of women’s individual kata”.
The third gold was won in fuku-go by Daniel Iwanek. After the championships he said that he had been training intensely for the competition throughout the whole year. „I am happy I managed to avoid an injury. I approached the participation maturely, I had the fights under control and that is why everything came off. The Poles performed superbly in these championships”.
In these championships both women’s ko-go kumite and men’s fuku-go belonged to Poles – apart from the gold in these competitions they also won silver medals. In the finals Justyna Marciniak and Piotr Kulczynski competed with their colleagues from the Polish team. “I assess my participation in the championships as good. Now I know how much work I will have to do. I have learnt a lot and I know that I am going in the right direction” – Piotr Kulczynski summed up his participation.
The silver was also won by Polish karate fighters, who presented their high competence, in men’s individual kumite and in team kumite. Bartosz Chyrek, who participated in individual kumite, after the championships said: “It was the first time that I had competed in individual kumite – this was a great challenge for me. I didn’t even except that my participation would prove to be so successful. I had been training a lot and I think that the training camps were of great help to me. This year the European championships didn’t take place and I had a craving for my participation in the competition. Also, my family – my wife and son – motivated me very much. I would like to thank them a lot for that.” Apart from that, he emphasized a special atmosphere that could be felt in our team: “Our team is the best in the world. When you fight, you can feel their breath down your neck”.
A kumite team composed of: Bartosz Chyrek, Lukasz Radwanski, Damian Tomasik and Lukasz Wojcik improved their result from the previous championships and won the silver medal. “I expected it would be worse than that, but it was all right. I am satisfied. We all supported one another” – said Damian Tomasik who made his debut in the world championships.
The silver was won by Bartosz Skwarski and Lukasz Urbaniak who also had their debut in the world championships in en-bu man/man. “We hope that we have proved our skills in the championships. We are going to fight for the participation in the next ones. The preparations went very well, we were in two training camps before the championships. All the first four competitors in en-bu presented similar level of competence, so it may have ended differently. The organizers asked us for the show for the championships audience. The atmosphere in the team was really uplifting, we have supported one another in every way possible – all for one, one for all!” – Lukasz Urbaniak summed up his participation in the competition.
Both Polish kata teams won bronze medals. The Polish female fighters included: Katarzyna Krzywańska, Anna Kulczynska and Anna Stachurska and the men’s kata team was composed of: Michal Janusz, Pawel Janusz i Rafal Wajda.
The results of the world championship:
Individual kata women:
1. Katarzyna Krzywanska – Poland (AKK Lodz)
2. Michelle Critch – Canada
3. Mariya Baryshnykova – Ukraine
4. Nataliya Vyerloka – Ukraine
Individual kata men:
1. Nazario Moffa – Italy
2. Mirko Saffioti – Italy
3. Robert Miclea – Romania
4. Pawe³ Janusz – Poland (MKS "Spartakus" Niepolomice)
Team kata women:
1. Romania – Manona Danciu, Cristina Gustoiu, Corina Tanasescu
2. Italy – Alessandra Caruso, Chiara Polello, Carlotta Prete
3. Poland – Katarzyna Krzywanska (AKK Lodz), Anna Stachurska (KK Pruszkow), Anna Kulczynska (Torunski KKT "Kumade")
4. Ukraine – Mariya Baryshnykova, Iryna Kokurina, Veronika Paziuk
Team kata men:
1. Italy – Fabio Cattaneo, Roberto Mariani, Mirko Saffioti
2. Romania – Robert Miclea, Tiberiu Matei, Romeo Trandafir
3. Poland – Pawel Janusz, Michal Janusz, Rafal Wajda (MKS "Spartakus" Niepolomice)
4. Brazil – Vladimir Zanca, Ricardo Buzzi, Vinicius Pinto
Fuku-go women:
1. Mariya Baryshnykova – Ukraine
2. Kristina Kaceviciute – Lithuania
3. Ilaria Rigoldi – Italy
3. Cornelia Nae – Romania
Fuku-go men:
1. Daniel Iwanek – Poland (Lubelski KKT)
2. Piotr Kulczynski – Poland (AKK Lodz)
3. Laimonas Niuniava – Lithuania
3. Rytis Bublevicius – Lithuania
Ko-go kumite women:
1. Marta Niewczas – Poland (KU AZS Uniwersytetu Rzeszowskiego)
2. Justyna Marciniak – Poland (Lubelski KKT)
3. Natalija Artiomova – Lithuania
3. Roxana Ratiu – Romania
Individual kumite men:
1. Matteo Leone – Italy
2. Bartosz Chyrek – Poland (KK Gdynia)
3. Eduard Popescu – Moldova
3. Simon Bors – Moldova
En-bu men/men:
1. Romania – Adrian Cojocaru, Romeo Trandafir
2. Poland – Bartosz Skwarski, Lukasz Urbaniak (Lubelski KKT)
3. Italy – Matteo Leone, Nazario Moffa
4. Brazil – Rodrigo Souza, Igor Mendonca
Mixed en-bu:
1. Romania – Manona Danciu, Robert Miclea
2. Italy – Ilaria Rigoldi, Andrea Gasparetti
3. Brazil – Adairce Castanhetti, Rodrigo Souza
4. Poland – Aleksandra Dec, Damian Karwacki (AKK Lodz)
Team kumite:
1. Italy – Marco Bacchilega, Stefano De Bartolomeo, Matteo Leone, Cristian Zanovello
2. Poland – Bartosz Chyrek (KK Gdynia), Damian Tomasik (TS "Sokol" Aleksandrow Lodzki), Lukasz Radwanski (Kluczborski KK), Lukasz Wojcik (Kluczborski KK)
3. Lithuania – Rytis Bublevicius, Laimonas Niuniava, Darius Balciunas, Giedrus Svetkauskas
3. Germany – Andreas Hoheneder, Simon Eisenmann, Christian Eisenmann, Bjorn Rudolf
