Viking Cup International 2011 has come to an end. It was the 11th time we organized the Viking Cup and as I look back at all editions of the competition I am proud to say that the Viking Cup is a very popular meeting place for competitors, coaches, umpires and supporters from all around the world. This year about 200 competitors from the following nine countries fought for the medals: Austria, England, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Norway, Scotland and Sweden. Also Poland was represented with two umpires.

We had a special pattern division for Miniors (8-11 years old) and Cadets (12-14 years old). It was much appreciated and we enjoyed seeing the youngsters present great patterns with much determination and fine technique.

The coaches and competitors also warmly welcomed that we this year enlarged the competition both in pattern and sparring. In pattern all participants performed an optional and a designated pattern. All matches in sparring were two rounds even though the system of competing in sparring is the pool system. I must also send a special thanks to all umpires who made the competition a real success.

The Viking Cup was also visited by a very special guest. We had the great honor to greet Grand Master Tom MacCallum from Scotland.

Personally I was very satisfied to see great technique and skills not only among the black belts but also among the color belts. I was much impressed with the green and blue belts and it will be interesting to follow their progress.

See also photos, a movie and results from the competition on the website: www.viking-cup.se.

See you all next year for the 12th edition of Viking Cup International!

Master Swavek Dydiszko
Viking Cup International
Organizing Committee