Newsletter Newsletter 2/2006 Polish Championships 2006

The XIXth running of the Polish Senior Taekwon-do Championships took place on 27th-28th May 2006 in Kielce. 152 competitors from 31 clubs took part in the Championships, with all the best Polish competitors participating. However, Dariusz Idzikowski was a notable absence after sustaining a foot injury at the recent European Championships. Also unable to participate was Ilona Dziala who suffered a head trauma in Romania and was therefore unable to compete, but was still there to support her fellow competitors.

The Championships produced many surprising results, especially in male sparring categories. In category - 63 kg. the favorites were: Andrzej Szymanski, LKS Viking Kolobrzeg, World Champion from Dortmund and Milosz Moskaluk, World Champion from Rimini in category up to 54 kg. Nevertheless Andrzej Szymanski, lost with Bartosz Batra, WSKT Wroclaw, although in the opinion of observers the referees may have helped him to win this battle. Milosz Moskaluk succeeded in reaching the final against Rafal Olenski, both representing MKS Lewart Lubartow, but luck was with Rafal on this occasion and he took the title.

   
   
   
   

In -71 kg the favorites were 2 members of the Polish National Team : Mariusz Walach, from Lewart Lubartow, many times Champion of Poland in this category and Michal Dziubicki also from Lewart Lubartow, who represented Poland in the last Euros in this category. Michal Dziubicki unexpectedly lost with his colleague from the same club Sylwester Zalewski in the quarter-final. Mariusz Walach had a very challenging semi-final with Piotr Stykowski, a promising young competitor from MKST Bystrzyca Klodzka. Although Mariusz was successful in this case, there was a mixed opinion regarding whether the verdict reflected the bout. In the final, Piotr Wasilewski from KWSW Taewo Warsaw, sparred extremely well and managed to defeat Walach, taking the -71kg title.

The category up to 80 kg was exceptionally strong with many high class competitors including: Daniel Dziala,2 times World Champion, Grzegorz Puzon, the Polish Champion 2005 and winner of Polish Cup 2006, representative of Polish national Team on Euros 2006 in this category, Grzegorz Jezak, KKSW Lubin, member of the National Team, Zdzislaw Synoradzki from KS Dragon Janow, Adam Mietek from LKS Lotos Jablonna, winner of many bouts at the International Taekwon-do Match in Warsaw and Slawomir Zarejko from SKS Start Olsztyn, ex-member of Polish National Team 1990-1997, Champion of Poland in category up to 71 kg in 1990 and in category up to 80 kg in 1992, 1993, 1997. This year he decided to come back to the sport competition, gaining qualification to Polish Championships in the Polish Cup A in category over 80 kg, but on Polish Cup B he competed also in category up to 80 kg.

Zarejko eliminated Grzegorz Puzon and Daniel Dziala to meet Adam Mietek in the final, who had previously beaten Grzegorz Jezak and Zdzislaw Synoradzki in the earlier rounds. Zarejko showed he is back on form, despite his break from competition, and took the title of -80kg.

In the over 80 kg category another ex-member of the Polish Team returned to sport Taekwon-Do - Tomasz Pilarz, also after taking 2 years break from Taekwon-do. The absence of Dariusz Idzikowski in this category gave Piotr Sawa, from SKT Tornado Szczecin the opportunity to meet Pilarz in the final, and ultimately take the Gold.

Jaroslaw Suska was Polish Champion in 4th degree patterns for the 16th time, an absolute record! He also has another unique record: he has attended and competed in each of the 19 Polish Championships to date!

The female sparring took place more or less without any unexpected results, although Ilona Dziala’s absence allowed a very talented Junior female competitor, Monika Gzowska, current European Junior Champion from Romania, to become Polish Champion at -58kg.

The other categories followed general expectations with Marzana Pawlik taking -52kg Champion, Joanna Paprocka defeating Joanna Lipa in the final of the -63kg, Malgorzata Rogaczewska taking -70kg and Monika Olek taking +70kg.

MKS Lewart Lubartow entered 2 male teams who succeeded in dominating the final of both Team Patterns and Sparring. It was no surprise that they took Best Club for this Polish Championships. Best Competitors were: Milosz Moskaluk MKS Lewart, Rafal Gozdalski LSKT Lublin, Marzanna Pawlik KKSW Legnica and Monika Gzowska LKS Lotos.

Interestingly enough, a female competitor from Ireland took part in this year’s event, Siobhan Kangataran, who gained the qualification to the Polish Championships at the Polish Cup A in Starachowice representing MKS Lewart Lubartów. Siobhan won 3rd place in sparring up to 52 kg and 2nd place as part of the Lewart team in Patterns.

   

Congratulations to Rafal Gozdalski, organiser of the event, for preparing a tournament with such a high standard, in organisation and also in sport. Everything ran smoothly, and everyone enjoyed the event. Particularly the dance group FEVER from Cracow, lead by the Polish Miss Fitness, who performed a number of routines and acrobatic performances to a number of popular songs.

See the results!

Interview with Siobhan Kangataran

Age: 22 years old
Nationality: Irish (Born in Malaysia)
Association: Ireland Taekwon-Do Association

As an Irish Competitor, how did it happen that you represent a Polish Club and take part in the Polish Championships?

I came to Poland in February to train with Jerzy Jedut, having trained with him previously in Ireland and then again in Nowa Ruda at the Polish Summer Camp. After a few days in his club, he invited me to come to the Polish Cup A in Starachowice to gain more experience at sparring -52kg, and also to see the high level of competition in Poland. We agreed that, if I qualified, that I would return for the Polish Championships. So, through a combination of luck and Mr. Jedut’s guidance I was fortunate enough to take part in both these tournaments.

You have experience now from Polish Cup A and Polish Championships, what are your impressions from these events?

The standard of organisation and refereeing is excellent, definitely a very high level of professionalism. Everything runs on time, the relevant information is provided to the competitors and great care is taken to ensure everyone is kept entertained, exactly what you want from any tournament!

What did you like the most about the tournaments?

Definitely the high standard of competition, in all the events. The level is so high across the board that the difference between first and last can be very small. Every bout is worth watching and as we saw in Kielce things don’t always go as expected. It’s also very inspiring to see such a high standard of female competitors, with so many European and World Champion Medalists, both Junior and Senior, taking part.

Are you going to continue to compete in Polish competitions?

Definitely!