Swedish Trelleborg was not a lucky place for Bolesławiec native Krzysztof Jasiński, who represented Poland last weekend at the European Junior WTF Taekwondo Championships. Krzysztof competed in the under-48 kg category. The championships began well for the Bolesławiec native. In his first bout, his opponent from Macedonia, Filip Anastasovski, was withdrawn by the judges’ decision, allowing our athlete to advance from the elimination round. Unfortunately, in his next bout he faced French representative Alexandre Lepape, to whom he lost 0–3. In the final standings of the European Junior Championships, Lepape won the bronze medal, losing in the semifinals to European Champion Pavel Kulakouw of Belarus.

Krzysztof’s preparation period and warm-up tournaments can be considered successful. He defended his Polish Championship title and won silver at the Class A tournament—the Belgian Open. However, his performance at the main event, the European Championships, was not what our athlete is capable of. Perhaps his psychological preparation let him down. In addition, the UKS Ilyo athlete repeatedly said that he felt uncomfortable fighting in the new protective equipment (Hogo). The new equipment, featuring an electronic scoring system, was introduced into the ETU (European Taekwondo Union) rules this year. Despite very good motor skills, strength and speed of technique, as well as tactical preparation, Krzysztof could not adapt to the so-called electronics and experienced a certain degree of discomfort.

The Bolesławiec native did not reach the podium at the European Championships in the Olympic discipline. He must continue working and consistently pursue his goal. This year, Krzysztof will already compete in the qualifiers for the Polish Championships in the higher Youth age category (18–21 years). We are also awaiting the appearance of another Bolesławiec native. Kamil Serafin is preparing for the European Cadet Championships in June. From June 7, the Bolesławiec native will be at a Polish national team training camp in Morąg.

(information from UKS Ilyo/MZ)