October 21, 2015
9th Open European IKO Matsushima kyokushinkaikan karate championship was held in Swedish town Lund on October 17th, 2015. More than 100 fighters from 29 countries of the world (including 17 European countries) competed in the tournament. As championship was open there were fighters from Africa, Asia, Australia, North and South America,. Among honorable guests there were: IKO Matsushima president Kancho Yoshikazu Matsushima, vice-president Hansi John Taylor and Chairman of the North American Kyokushin Karate Shihan Roman Shiryaev.
Our Federation was represented by the head Dmytro Volynets, director Vitaliy Tereshkevych and two fighters: Andriy Gavrylyuk from Brovary and Yaroslav Goncharenko from Dnipropetrovsk. Both our fighters managed to get to the 1/8 final. In the 3rd fight Andriy Gavrylyuk fought with Sergo Movsesyan, but injured knee prevented Andriy from victory. And his opponent showed his best and became champion. As for Yaroslav Goncharenko, he was quite equal with Anatoliy Tomarov, but judges’ decision showed indulgence towards his opponent.
Organizational matters were satisfactory. Fighters toss was fair, and many of the strong fighters met with each other in first fights. There were some transportation problems. Sayonara party was organized in a canteen, but sportsmen had to hire taxi to get back from it. And they transferred sportsmen from the hotel to the fighting place by a car: 4 men at each ride. And such a transfer lasted 2 hours.
