“Bronze” Papadopoulos at -80 kg in Sarajevo

One 24 hours after Rita Kitsiou’s bronze at +73 kg, it was the turn of Ioannis Papadopoulos to put our Greece on the winners’ podium, taking third place in the -80 kg category at the U21 European Taekwondo Championships in Sarajevo.

Papadopoulos, who two years ago was second in the corresponding event in Albania at -87 kg, gave our country its 37th European U21 medal since 2012.

Also, the fifth place was occupied by Konstantinos Dimitropoulos (-58k.) and Magdaleni Klakala (-53k.).

Papadopoulos, who a few months ago competed as a member of the National team and in the European Men’s Championship, scored three victories in four races that brought him to the medals in a category where a total of 31 athletes participated.

In the round of 32, he defeated the Norwegian Rominecet 2-0, in the round of 16 he prevailed with the same score against the Croatian Krpan, while with formal procedures he qualified for the semi-final after a comfortable 2-0 victory over the Bosnian Seremet.

In the match to enter the final, he was defeated 2-0 by Turko Kilic, the title holder in 2023.

Dimitropoulos, for his part, scored three victories until the quarter-finals, but there he was defeated by the Turkish European champion of 2022 in Tirana, Kaplan, and remained in fifth place at -58 kg, just like Klakala at -53 kg by count two wins in three matches (in the match to enter the semi-final she was beaten 2-1 by “bronze” European women’s champion, Bosnia Avdagić).

The Greek presence during the second day:

-80 kilos

Semi-finals: Papadopoulos vs Kilic (Turkey) 0-2 (0-9, 0-12)

Quarterfinals: Papadopoulos vs Seremet (Bosnia/Herzegovina) 2-0 (12-0, 16-3)

Round 16: Papadopoulos vs Krpan (Croatia) 2-0 (18-5, 17-16)

Round 32: Romundset (Norway) vs Papadopoulos 0-2 (11-16, 3-16)

-53 kg

Quarter-finals: Klakala vs Avdagic (Bosnia/Herzegovina) 1-2 (2-12, 4-4, 6-7)

Round 16: Klakala vs Kokosi 2-0 (4-3, 7-3), Efichenko (Russia/AIN) vs Fiska 2-0 (12-0, 14-0)

Round 32: Pernistova (Slovakia) vs Klakala 0-2 (3-16, 6-12), Kokosi vs Khayvoronska (Ukraine) 2-0 (14-7, 14-4), Fiska vs Kaadats (Denmark) 2-0 (13-3, 13-3)

Round of 64: Kokosi vs Mayer (Germany) 2-1 (1-6, 7-6, 2-2)

-58 kg

Quarterfinals: Dimitropoulos vs Kaplan (Turkey) 0-2 (4-9, 8-12)

Round 16: Fraile (Spain) vs Dimitropoulos 0-2 (24-24, 18-26)

Round 32: Dimitropoulos vs Sarsoza (Great Britain) 2-0 (14-3, 13-0)

Round 64: Dimitropoulos vs Meckleman (Germany) 2-0 (15-3, 13-1)

-58 kg

Round 32: Magomedov (Russia/AIN) vs Papaioannou 2-0 (12-0, 11-2)

Round 64: Suleimanov (Azerbaijan) vs Papaioannou 0-2 (9-20, 12-15)

-53 kg

Round 32: Pagani vs Meistininkete (Lithuania) 1-2 (10-5, 2-8, 10-17)

-73 kg

Round 32: Leventi vs Petrovic (Serbia) 0-2

Round 32: Athanasiou vs Uzunchavdar (Turkey) 0-2