23. 06. 2015
Košice, Istanbul (June 23-28, 2015) The Junior European Championships were held this year in Istanbul, Turkey, to which only two representatives from our country, both from Košice, traveled. Under the guidance of national coach Mgr. Juraj Dancák, Jakub SÝKORA and Gabriel TYSZ competed at the tournament. Their weight categories were the first to start, opening these championships, which were the peak of this year's season.
In the 60kg weight category, Jakub SÝKORA, in a competition of 21 wrestlers, met Hungarian Csaba Vida in the qualification round, whom he knew from a training camp they attended with the Hungarian national team. This match did not go well for him; in the second period, his opponent caught him in a headlock and he lost 0:6L. In the final ranking, he placed 16th. In the 96kg weight category, Gabriel TYSZ, in a competition of 20 wrestlers, met the home Turk Ismail Cirak in the first round. After the first period, the match was very even, as he was losing by only one point. In the second period, only the Turk scored, defeating our representative by technical superiority 18:7. The Turk lost in the next round, thus not pulling Gabi into further fights. He placed 12th at this championship.
The coach commented on the championships: "Before we left, I had a little hope. Fulfilling even the smallest dream would have been at least some victories. Maybe even one victory would have moved us into the top half of the starting field. Kubo, although only in his first year in the junior category, definitely has greater potential. Gabi, despite being on the European mat after a long time due to a shoulder operation, is the same. The last phase of preparation in Budapest was successful. The boys looked in quite good shape. This was also proven by the training fights. That's why the disappointment after our matches was even greater. It looked as if we were the ones who were worse off. I couldn't explain it. In the end, after a short analysis, we came to the conclusion that the cause of our failure was the health condition of both our athletes. Kubo probably has bronchitis and Gabi has a respiratory tract infection. The draw was quite favorable to us. The Hungarian was beatable, as was shown in the mutual control fights, and the Turk was not one of the best. This was proven by his next performance. We are not among the wrestling powerhouses, but if we want to succeed, we have to have something to draw from. I think it could be fitness. A pity. It only remains to believe that this will not break the boys, but on the contrary, will motivate them to greater training effort. There is a small chance that we could compete at the World Championships, but if so, we have about 6 weeks to prepare. If both are healthy, we can revive our little dream." mb