Two bronze medals for Greece at the European Karate in Tbilisi

With two bronze medals, the Greek national team returns from Tbilisi, where it participated in the 51st European Junior Karate Championship (Teens, Juniors, Youth and U21).

The bronze medals in the event in which more than 1,100 athletes from 49 countries participated, were won by Maria Anastasiou in the +66k Young Women and Andreas Bitsoris in the -68k Young Men.

Anastasiou defeated Henriksen (Denmark), Raits (Serbia) and lost to Hakova (Czech Republic) who “pulled” her in the repechage. There, she defeated Lara (Spain) and then in the bronze medal final, she defeated Elzbieta Lukosaitite of Lithuania 4-3.

Bitsoris had an impressive run in the -68k Youth, defeating Matevosian (Armenia), Vakarelov (Bulgaria), Matingou (France), but lost in the semi-final to eventual European champion Poniava (Georgia). Thus he participated directly in the minor final, where he defeated Spak Tsimafei (Independent) and climbed to the third step of the podium.

However, apart from the two medals, Greece generally had an excellent presence at the European Championships in Georgia, which is reflected in the placings of our athletes in the top eight.

In particular, the following were defeated in the “small” final and took 5th place:

– Froso Doukas (-61k Juniors)

– Vassilis Koumbenakis (-57k Adolescents)

– Ilias Psomas (+76k Young Men)

The 7th place was won by:

– Agni Syka (-47k Juniors)

– Grigoris Vlachopoulos (-70k Adolescents)

– Giorgos Koulouridis (+70k Teenagers)

– Athena Tsiakmaki (AGAINST Young Women)

– Nasia Andrianopoulou (-55k U21)

The Hellenic Karate Federation and the president, Theodoros Sietis, congratulated all the athletes, athletes, coaches and referees who made up the Greek team at the European Championship.