KCT A-Team competitors at a competition in Italy.

Four leading competitors from the KCT A team, led by coach Mikołaj Kotowicz, took part in the 7th Lehel Vezér ITF Taekwon-Do Cup & 1st Nándor Eperjesi Memorial Cup. The competition took place on 10 October in Jászberény, Hungary. Eleven countries, represented by 23 teams, took part in the competition.
Adam Zięba won the gold medal in impressive style in the senior -64 kg category and took 2nd place in special techniques. Jakub Włodarz took first place in special techniques and 3rd place in the senior -78 kg sparring. Our junior competitor Karolina Nowak took 2nd place in the -58 kg sparring. Karolina Czech won the silver medal in the senior women’s -70 kg category.
After the bouts on the mat, the whole team went to Budapest for an overnight stay. In the morning, fully rested, they visited the city’s main attractions—the Danube riverbank, Parliament, the Royal Palace and the Great Synagogue.

They shared their observations with us:
Coach Mikołaj Kotowicz: Our competitors competed under somewhat different rules than usual. It was not permitted to perform more than two hand techniques in a series, and the scoring for foot techniques was lower. Nevertheless, our team members rose to the challenge. Adam fought very well and won his category quite confidently. Karolina Nowak decisively defeated her opponent in the semifinal, but despite her obvious superiority over her opponent in the final, the judges awarded the victory to the Serbian competitor. Kuba Włodarz suffered a similar fate and lost the bout for a place in the final completely undeservedly. Karolina Czech did not compete until around 10 p.m., which resulted in a lower level of concentration. In the first round of her only bout, she was caught off guard several times, and although the second round looked better, it was not enough to win.

Jakub Włodarz: In my opinion, the competition left much to be desired in terms of organization, particularly because of its duration and the way it was spread out over time. The level was quite good; one could see at least several very good competitors who fought impressively. Fighting competitors who understand the scoring in their system and approach sport fighting completely differently than in PUT is a valuable experience (they use different techniques that are riskier and score fewer points for us).