The main opponents of the Italians on their way to medals – OA Sport

The 2022 European Taekwondo Championships in Manchester They are getting closer and closer: from tomorrow Thursday 19 May Until Sunday 22 European titles will be awarded. They will be fine 14 Azores who have left for the UK and will try to assert themselves, in various categories, in both men and women. We analyze, below, for each category, which opponents our athletes should fear.

Men -54 kg

In the category in which he will compete, for the Azzurri, Andrea ContiYou will have to pay attention to the scoreboard to try to meet European Champion titleHungarian Omar Salem, third in the global ranking and first at the continental level; In addition, he came back from two victories in Puerto Rico and Belgium Open. Particular attention was also paid to the European vice-champion, the Greek Dionysius Rapsomanikisto Turkish Gorkim Polat (No. 5 in the world ranking) and Croatian Josep Tesquera (He came back from third place at the Swedish Open.)

Taekwondo, Italy national team under X-ray: Vito del Aquila, Simone Alessio and Roberto Botta. Maristella Smeraglia on the launch pad

Men -58 kg

Favorites in this category can only be us Vito del Aquilathe Olympic champion in Tokyo 2020, but there will be athletes with the intent of blocking the path to the title of European champion: this is the case of those who currently hold the title just mentioned, the French. Sirian Ravit (Recently third in the Belgian Open), or from last year, in Sofia, he moved one step away from the continental title but had to gain second place, the Spaniard Adrian Vicente Yonta (New from winning the Sofia Open).

Men -63 kg

Denis Barrettthe only blue in this class, can find powerful opponents in his path: above all, the Turk Hakan Resperthe winner of the Open Championship held last February but above all the European champion, and first place in the world rankings, the Spaniard Juan Gorkyra Cala. The Belgian should also be considered a serious opponent Jawad Ahab (He is fourth in the world rankings and second in the Sofia Open, where he was beaten by the Spaniard himself.)

Men -68 kg

There will be Italy to represent her Simon Crescenzi; Also due to the absence of the Russian hero Sarmat Takakoivthe most feared opponent who can cross the blue color on the scoreboard is the Briton, the owner and first in the standings, Bradley Sinden. Another potentially dangerous competitor is the Spaniard Javier Perez Polosecond in the standings and winner of the Open Championship at home in Alicante.

Men -74 kg

More than a scary opponent in this category for Samuel Paliva: from spanish Daniel Quesada Barrerafirst in order, to Bosnian Nadad Hussein (Deputy European Champion) Not to forget the Belgian Badr Ahab (4th place in the standings, but only one podium has been taken so far in 2022); The winner of last year’s continental title, the Pole, will be out due to injury Carol Roebuck.

Men -80 kg

In this category Italy with two Azores, Antonio Gironi And Simon Alessiocan aim for top positions: hinder Azzurri’s progress (of course, depending on what will be determined by the scoreboard) Croatian Tony channel (Won Olympic bronze in Tokyo and fourth in the standings) Norwegian Richard André Ordemann and Greek Apostolos Telikostoglou, respectively, sixth and seventh in the world ranking. The reigning champion, Olympic champion and first in standings, the Russian, will not be present (for reasons now known) Maxim Khramtkov.

Men -87 kg

The last male class that you will see the protagonist is blue, Roberto Botta, is -87 kg. Here too there will be strong opponents, such as the Croatian Evan Sabina (3rd place in the standings and 1st European, 3rd in the last edition of the European Championships in Sofia), but the absence of the Russians (both in the top 10 in the world rankings) Vladislav Larin And Raphael Kamalov It can be a factor in increasing the chances of achieving high goals for our blue.

Women -46 kg

Now let’s move on to the women’s categories, and do it with the -46kg weight you’ll be competing in Veronica Bow; Of all, there are two of the most fearsome opponents that the Council can put before the Blue, or the Croatian hero in office. Lena Stojkovic and Turkish Emine Gogebakan (Two wins out of two this year so far, in Dores for the President’s Cup and in Alicante for the Spanish Open.)

Women -49 kg

also for Martina Corelli There will be strong competitors who can present themselves on the blue road: not only the Turk Rukiye Yıldırım (returned from second place in the Swedish Open), but also (and above all) a very young Spaniard, born in 2003, Adriana Cerezo IglesiasShe is the European Olympic silver medalist (-48kg class), and so far this season, Always went to the podiumExcept for fifth place in Doris in the President’s Cup.

Women -53 kg

Blue is the protagonist in this category Sarah Halawani; Among the toughest competitors that Blue, born in 1999, could face, the Serbian Tijana Bogdanovic (Tokyo Olympic bronze medal -48kg category) Turkish Vice European Champion Zeliha Ağrıs and German except for two handsHe is ranked third in the world and is talking about victories in the Turkish Open and Fujairah.

Women -57 kg

Uphill road also for the aforementioned Italian sister, Jayada Al Halawaniparticipates in the -57 kg category: two particularly intimidating athletes stand out above all potential opponents of the blue, such as the Turk Hatice Kubra İlgün (#2 in standings, bronze medalist at the Tokyo Olympics and always on the podium in the three tournaments I’ve competed in this year) and British Jade Jones (The European title holder won last year in Sofia).

Women -67 kg

Italy bets on Natalia D’Angelo To compete in one of the most balanced categories on the eve of the match, given the quality of the athletes who will be competing. There will be the Croatian champion and Olympic champion No. 1 in the standings, Mattia Djelicolympic silver britannica Lauren Williams and the French Magda Wit Haninwhich won in 2022 three victories out of the three tournaments it participated in (the President’s Cup, the Belgian Open, the Spanish Open).

Women -73 kg

Finally, we get to the last category where blue is the protagonist, Maristella Smeraglia, -73 kg. Here too, for the aforementioned category, there are many athletes who can strive for the continental title: just think about who wants to defend this title, the Briton Rebecca McGowanin the French way Althea Lauren (Olympic bronze in Tokyo in the +67 kg category, fourth in the world ranking and always on the podium in the tournaments in which he participated this year) or Turkish denying Kush (Out of the top ten rankings, eleventh).

Photo: FITA