World Championship

AIBA Youth World Championship begins today in Budapest

aiba world championships

We have already written about Hungary’s honour to host the 2018 AIBA Youth World Championships in Budapest. Check out our guide to the most awaited programs and events!

This year, the prestigious World Championships of the boxing world will take place in Budapest in the specifically re-designed Danube Arena. 421 competitors from 78 different countries will have to chance to participate, even from distant countries such as Mongolia.

Zsolt Erdei, president of the Hungarian Boxing Association has told in an interview that they are “ready to show what Hungary is capable of in and out of the ring, and look forward to putting on a show worthy of the occasion”.

He now gave an interview, just a few days before the competition, in which he emphasised the significance of such an event and claimed that “the prestige of Hungarian boxing is at stake”.

The opening ceremony of the Championships will be organized on 21st August, at 19:30 in the Danube Arena. The spectacular and pleasurable performances will include a choreography, a set by DJ Dominique and popular Hungarian performers such as Tamás & Csaba Vastag.

When asked about his expectations regarding Hungarian competitors, Zsolt Erdei said that his dreams would come true if we could win a gold medal.

The realist expectations are two medals, but some of the contesters really have the potential to win, namely Attila Bernáth, Tibi Barbosu from men’s, Luca Hámori and Hanna Lakotár from women’s category.

The Danube Arena that gave place to the FINA World Championships last year will host this year’s boxing championships, too. For this event, the arena has been re-designed and water has been drained from the pools that will stay covered for the whole event. The boxing ring will be constructed on the top of the pools.

The visitors of the recently re-opened Danube Arena have the chance to receive special vouchers that can be exchanged for daily tickets to the championships.

The success of the championships will have a profound and decisive impact on the prestige and reputation of Hungarian boxing. Let us all cheer for Hungarian competitors who will give their best during the contests.

Follow the Hungarian Boxing Association’s Youtube channel and you will surely not miss any part of the exciting contests as there will be a live broadcast of the programs. AIBA’s official Facebook page also posted some interesting sneak peak photos about the preparations from behind the scenes:

The program schedule will go as here follows:

21 August

12:00 Afternoon matches
17:00 Evening matches
19:30 Opening ceremony

22-28 August

12:00 Afternoon matches
17:00 Evening matches

29 August

No matches – rest day

30-31 August

14:00 Final matches and medal ceremonies
19:00 Award ceremony

Hungary to host AIBA Youth Women’s and Men’s World Championship 2018

Magyar Ökölvívás Hungarian Boxing Association

Hungary will host the AIBA Youth Women’s and Men’s World Championship in 2018. As Sportmindig.hu reports from the press conference, the outstanding boxing tournament where 82 countries and 447 participants will be represented starts on 21 August.

The prestigious boxing Championship will take place in the Danube Arena, which has been re-designed for this occasion. At the press conference, István Bajkai Member of Parliament, former Vasas boxer emphasized the high significance of the event. As he said, Hungary is a sporting nation, and the youth competition perfectly fits our country’s sports event records in the past few years. Following the 2017 FINA World Championships, and after the announcement that Budapest might host the Athletic World Championship, the AIBA tournament represents a great success.

„In sports and boxing especially, there is no progress without hard work. This could be the motto of our work-based society” – as Bajkai said.

Zsolt Erdei, President of the Hungarian Boxing Association and head of the event’s organizer commission reported about the visit of AIBA’s functionaries last week. According to the international organizers, it is to be guaranteed that Hungarian organizers will give their best in the preliminary works, and the Championship will prove to be successful.

As Erdei said in response, „we are ready to show what Hungary is capable of in and out of the ring, and look forward to putting on a show worthy of the occasion.”

He did not keep in secret his hopes that Hungarians, especially Attila Bernáth may even gain the gold medal throughout the contests.

Magyar Ökölvívó Szövetség Hungarian Boxing Association
Photo: https://web.facebook.com/okolvivoszovetseg/

Károly Balzsay, captain of Men’s national team shares Erdei’s views regarding potential Hungarian performance, but admits that luck will also play a role. The Hungarian Men’s team is currently taking part in hard training with the world’s strongest teams.

Training camp in Russia, contests with Ukrainian and Croatian teams at Kőszeg and international training camp at Győr: this is what the team’s schedule looks like, as the professional shared.

Mária Kovács, the coach, is in Dublin with the Women’s national team for training, preceded by a training camp in Assissi, from where she sent a video message to the participants of the press conference. Thankful for the preparatory work of the Association, she named Hanna Lakotár, Emília Kondákor, Vera Villás or Luca Hámori as potential winners from the Women’s team.

The competition will take place between 20-31 August in a surprisingly unusual place, the Danube Arena, originally built to accommodate water sports competitions. Although the coverage of the pool represented a great challenge, it seems it has been overcome and the 5300 viewers can fully enjoy the facilities provided by the Arena.

It is now almost certain that the cabala figures of the World Championship have also been selected: their names are Bingó and Ringó, and can be seen below.

Women’s Hungarian National team participants:

Vitál Dominika (48 kg), Lakotár Hanna (51 kg), Kondákor Emília (54 kg), Matesz Viktória (57 kg), Hámori Luca (60 kg), Villás Vera (64 kg), Ambrus Viktória (69 kg), Petrovics Gabriella (75 kg), Szinta Major Barbara (81 kg).

Men’s Hungarian National team participants:

Bernáth Attila (49 kg),Borsos Tamás (52 kg), Ángyán József (56 kg), Orbán Adrián (60 kg), Danyi Dániel (64 kg), Barbosu Tibor (69 kg), Kóczián Dávid (75 kg), Egervári Richárd (81 kg), Fehér Koppány (+91 kg).

Featured image: https://web.facebook.com/okolvivoszovetseg/

IAAF wants Budapest to host 2023 World Championships

The plan of the new stadium

The governing body of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) approved the recommendation that Budapest be declared the preferred European city to host the IAAF World Championships in 2023, at a meeting in Buenos Aires.

“The process now is for a full technical, financial and risk evaluation to be undertaken with the results presented to the Council in December. At that stage a final decision will be made,” the IAAF said.

The IAAF World Championships, a biennial competition, was hosted by London in 2017. It will take place in Doha next year and in Eugene, in the United States, in 2021.

Featured image: www.facebook.com/BajiBalázs

Budapest could host the 2023 World Championship in Athletics

Sport Roland Levy

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has announced that, during their meeting in Buenos Aires, Budapest was suggested as the host for the outdoor 2023 World Championship in Athletics – reports index.hu.

Sebastian Coe, president of the IAAF, announced during the press conference closing the meeting in Buenos Aires that the association made up of 27 members supports the idea of Budapest and the Hungarian Athletics Association (MASZ) hosting the 2023 World Championship. Péter Deutsch, responsible for MASZ’s application to be host in 2023, said the following about the promising news: “We have to meet the high-level requirements introduced in the new application system of the IAAF so that the Hungarian Athletics Association can be officially announced in December as the host.

Until then, and, hopefully in the coming 5 years as well, our only goal is to ensure that we can host the best ever world championship.”

iaaf, meeting
IAAF meeting
Photo: atletika.hu

Balázs Fürjes, the government commissioner responsible for international sports applications, said that it is an honour to receive positive feedback about the Hungarian application to be the host. He also said that

“We are on the right path and have reached an important milestone, however, we must not forget that there is still a long way to go until December. We have to work hard to ensure that Budapest will still be at the top in a few months.”

Márton Gyulai, manager of the application committee, revealed that IAAF is going to break the old habit of choosing the host from several different candidates. The reason for this is that, in the past, many cities were left disappointed, not to mention the amount of money some of them spent on convincing IAAF to choose them as the host, even if they did not have the knowledge and experience required for organising an event of such volume. According to Gyulai, who is also a member of the committee of the European Athletics Association,

“IAAF is now consciously looking for partners to work with who can help and manage the decision-making process so that the appropriate candidate can be chosen.”

It is nevertheless certain that, after the 2019 World Championship will be held in Qatar and Eugene in the US will be the host in 2021, the 2023 championship will find a host in Europe – fingers crossed it will be Hungary.

For more news, check out this article about the possibility of Hungary ever becoming a host of the Olympics.

Featured image: MTI/AP/Matt Dunham

This is how the phenomenal World Junior Synchronised Swimming Championship went down – PHOTOS!

junior vb, műúszás

As reported earlier, the spectacular World Junior Synchronised Swimming Championship was organised in Hungary this year. The event took place in the Duna Aréna in Budapest, between July 18th and 22nd.

Day 1

The 1st day of the 16th FINA World Junior Synchronised Swimming Championship kicked off with a great start, not necessarily for Hungarians, though. According to mszusz.hu, the Russian Varvara Subbotina stole the limelight by winning the solo technical event as well as the freestyle performance in the evening, gaining two gold medals for the Russian team all in the same day.

russian team, synchronised swimming
Varvara Subbotina, gold medalist
Photo: facebook.com/pg/szinkronuszas

Freestyle performance results:

  1. Varvara Subbotina (Russia) – 93.5667 points
  2. Marta Fiedina (Ukraine) – 90.7667 points
  3. Mana Fujiwara (Japan) – 88.3333 points.

During the opening ceremony, students of the Experidance Dance Academy gave a spectacular performance next to the pools, while ‘mermaids’ mesmerised the audience in the water.

synchronised swimming
Mermaids
Photo: facebook.com/pg/szinkronuszas

Among the people giving speeches was Lisa Schott, the Canadian Ambassador of the National Swimming Association’s synchronised swimming technical jury,

who emphasised the high quality of the water sports events organised in Hungary – the number of which is on the rise.

Day 2

In the centre of the second day were all the duos. 35 of them battled in the freestyle program this past Thursday, including the Hungarian Janka Dávid and Szabina Hungler. The girls finished with great results on the top of the list of the semi-finals.

hungarian synchronised swimming
Hungarian duo
Photo: facebook.com/pg/szinkronuszas

Their achievement is remarkable considering they managed to score more points and a better place among European countries than just three weeks before, during the Tampere European Championship.

Although they did not get into the finals this year and finished at 14th out of the 33 duos, the progress they made in a short time between the two competitions is remarkable and an indication of their continuous improvement. The gold medal went to the Russian team again.

duo, performance
Duo event
Photo: facebook.com/pg/szinkronuszas

The freestyle duo event results are as follows:

  1. Alina Mantulenko, Mihail Vassiliev (Russia) – 85.1333 points
  2. Csang Ji-Gao, Sze Hao-jü (China) – 81.4667 points
  3. Miyauchi Kana, Iwasaki Dzsimma (Japan) – 80.7667 points.

Day 3

Friday, the third day of the Championship was relatively chill, as there was an award ceremony in only one category – the group technical event. Unsurprisingly, the gold medal went to the Russian team, but the Hungarians should be proud of their firm place as 14th, too.

synchronised swimming, group
Group performance
Photo: facebook.com/pg/szinkronuszas

Group technical results:

  1. Russia – 92.7342 points
  2. Ukraine – 90.3331 points
  3. Japan – 89.0176 points.

Day 4

The organisers made the decision late Friday evening to make the event free for the last two days, so the spectacular performances could be enjoyed live if you received the information fast enough. In the freestyle group event category, the Hungarian team ended up being 14th, just missing the final 12, despite scoring 1.5 points more than in the European Championship a few weeks ago.

competition, group,synchronised swimming
Group performance
Photo: facebook.com/pg/szinkronuszas

Sándor Balogh, the president of the Synchronised Swimming Association as well as of the World Championship Organising Committee, congratulated the girls and emphasised how talented they are and how impressive their skills already are, while also pointing out that synchronised swimming has a rather subjective point-awarding system that basically allows anything to happen.

group, performance
Group performance
Photo: facebook.com/pg/szinkronuszas

Group freestyle results:

  1. Russia – 93.6667 points
  2. Ukraine – 91.8000 points
  3. Japan – 90.5667 points.

Also important to mention that there were male participants as well, considering men have been allowed to join the sport in 2015, and boys aged 15-18 participated in this year’s World Championship, too.

boy, girl, synchronised swimming
Mixed duo
Photo: facebook.com/pg/szinkronuszas
boy, girl, synchronised swimming
Mixed duo
Photo: facebook.com/pg/szinkronuszas

Day 5

Sunday was the concluding day of the Championship. The last day proved to be lucky for the Hungarian team, as they succeeded in getting to the final for the first time ever in the category of free variation group performances. The closest the Hungarian girls got to the finale was two years ago, where they just missed it by finishing in 13th place.

synchronised swimming
Group performance
Photo: facebook.com/pg/szinkronuszas

Although the girls did not win but came in as 10th and the gold medal went to Russia again, they definitely should be proud of their performance and all they have achieved in these magical five days.

In the end, the medal table was as follows (gold, silver, bronze):

  1. Russia – 9 0 0
  2. Ukraine – 0 7 0
  3. China – 0 2 1
  4. Japan – 0 0 8
synchronised swimming
Group performance
Photo: facebook.com/pg/szinkronuszas

All in all, the event was a great success. As sportmindig.hu reports it, FINA President Cornel Marculescu found everything satisfactory and stated that

“The World Synchronised Swimming Junior Championship was another well-organised event, falling in line with the rest of the events so far taking place at this location [at the Duna Aréna].”

For more news, check out this article about Hungarian swimmers meeting the Pope.

Featured image: facebook.com/pg/szinkronuszas

Sensational: Hungarian Junior Handball Team triumphs at World Championship!

Following a season of continuous winning and no defeat at the world championship, the Hungarian Junior handball team could finally put an end to what they started in 2001 and 2003 in the world championship finals, as Nemzetisport.hu reports: they defeated Norwegia and won the World Cup in 2018!

This year, we have already written about Győr’s success at the Women’s EHF Champions League. This time, the Hungarian Junior Handball Team once again proved what they are capable of: after getting into the finals and reaching the second place at the 2001 and 2003 contests, defeated by Russia, for the third time, head coach Gologon Vlagyimir could lead the team to winning the game in Debrecen, at Phoenix Stadium.

However, it is not the first time that a Hungarian handball team has won such a contest: our adult team has been the first in 1965 at the World Championship, while the Junior Beach Handball Team has won last year’s world contest.

Following the group matches, where the Hungarian team remained undefeated until the end, the game started with much enthusiasm on both sides. In the seventh minute, the Hungarian team was leading 4-1! In the first half of the match, it seemed that the game would not be so easy to win from either of the sides: the teams went to break with a thrilling 10-12 result.

The Hungarian team could win the final even with their Captain, Rita Lakatos taken to hospital care due to injuries throughout the game.

Katrin Kujber, Háfra and Sára Suba were unstoppably playing, enabling the team to take great leaps forward to win the game finally

The Junior team could efficiently work even without Rita, winning the second half at 18-10 points and the Championship at 28-22 points.

Nevertheless, for those who followed the group games, the Hungarian winning might not have been a surprise. Ours performed outstandingly during the matches, with wins against Brazil, Montenegro, Portugal, Slovenia, Romania, South Korea and finally, Norwegia.

The final result of the championship

World Cup winner: Hungary, 2. Norwegia, 3. South-Korea, 4. Russia, 5. The Netherlands, 6. Denmark, 7. France, 8. Romania, 9. Croatia, 10. Iceland, 11. Brazil, 12. Sweden, 13. Germany, 14. Japan, 15. Slovenia, 16. Montenegro, 17. Spain, 18. Portugal, 19. Angola, 20. Chile, 21. China, 22. Paraguay, 23. Egypt.

Junior World Championships handball
The winner Junior Hungarian Handball Team at the announcement of final results, 14th July 2018.
Photo: MTI, Czeglédy Zsolt.

Goal scorers

Háfra, Klujber 8-8, Lakatos 4, Fodor 3, Pásztor, Szabó K. 2-2, Faluvégi 1 and Reistad 7, Jacobsen 4, Gabrielsen, Ellertsen, Fossheim 2-2, Olsen, Hovland, Nestaker, Lund, Syverud 1-1.

The players of the winning Hungarian Junior Handball team

Binó Boglárka, Faluvégi Dorottya, Fodor Csenge, Giricz Laura, Háfra Noémi, Hlogyik Petra, Hornyák Bernadett, Horváth Laura, Kácsor Gréta, Klujber Katrin, Kuti Bettina, Lakatos Rita, Márton Gréta, Pásztor Noémi, Pénzes Laura, Suba Sára, Szabó Kitti, Tóvizi Petra, Head coach: Golovin Vlagyimir, Assistant coach: Pigniczki Krisztina.

Featured image: MTI.

Few days left: Synchronised swimming – World Junior Championship at the Duna Aréna

According to nemzetisport.hu, Duna Aréna will be the host of the FINA World Synchronised Swimming Junior Championship in 2018, between July 18th and 22nd.

Synchronised swimmers are mesmerising and incredibly talented, and managed to capture people’s attention during the World Aquatics Championship last year, as well as this May when the FINA world series came to Hungary.

Now another spectacular event for this fascinating and visually very pleasing sport is going to take place. The Wolrd Junior Championship will be hosted by the Duna Aréna, for 6 days starting on the 18th July.

Around 300 contestants from 39 countries will compete, in 9 different categories.

synchronised artistic swimming
Synchronised swimmers
Photo: facebook.com/szinkronuszas

You can buy tickets in advance, for incredible prices at eventim.hu. You can choose your preferred seat for only 400 to 800 forints (1.23-2.46 EUR).

And there is more!

For the first two days of the competition, entrance in the morning will be free,

you only have to register online (eventim.hu). The contestants will start at 10 am both days, with their solo and duo free-style performances.

For more news, check out this article about six Hungarian water sports legends.

Tímea Babos – the first World No. 1 in Hungarian tennis history

You might have already heard of Tímea Babos, who is the best Hungarian female tennis player of the last few years. It has become official: Tímea Babos is also the first Hungarian tennis player to become WTA Doubles World No. 1, 24.hu reports.

Tímea Babos keeps writing tennis history: first, she became the first Hungarian world champion in tennis, then she triumphed at the Australian Open, and now, she managed to become WTA Doubles World No. 1.

Babos and her partner Kristina Mladenovic won 14 matches in Wimbledon 2018, and they only lost two so far. However, regardless of the outcomes of Wimbledon 2018, Tímea Babos will become the World No. 1, because the second-best Andrea Sestini Hlavackova – Barbora Strycova double lost. Babos knew that the only way she did not get the title was if Hlavackova wins.

[button link=”https://dailynewshungary.com/hungarian-win-at-the-atp-tennis-world-tour-after-36-years/” type=”big” newwindow=”yes”] Amazing! Hungarian win at the ATP Tennis World Tour after 36 years[/button]

In an interview with Nemzeti Sport, Tímea Babos said that she tried not to pay attention to what others were achieving, but she focused on herself and her partner. She also emphasised in the interview:

“The World No. 1 title was not handed to me by others; I managed to get it with years of hard work.”

Photo: www.facebook.com/BabosTímea

She also mentioned that so far, she has always managed to achieve every goal she and her coach set for her, let that be the WTA finals in Singapore, the Australian Open or the World No. 1 title right now.

In another interview with wtatennis.com, Tímea said that

“We set this goal this year that, after winning the Singapore Masters last year, I would like to have a Grand Slam title and the world No. 1 spot in my pocket. Here I am having both at the moment.”

She also said that she is incredibly happy and thankful that she managed to get the title. She also mentioned that she feels capable of achieving big things with different partners, as she won in Singapore and at the Australian Open with two different partners. She also told during the interview with WTA:

“The Grand Slam title was waiting for itself. I had a couple of finals behind me, so to finally get that title, especially with one of my best friends on tour, it was extraordinary (…) I have a feeling that I keep writing history all the time with having the Australia Open title or the masters title, or I was holding the highest career ranking also before, and just to be No. 1 is, of course, very special.”

She thinks that the people at home are delighted and supporting, even though Hungary is not a typical tennis country.

Featured image: Facebook.com/babostimea

Hungary wins several medals at the FINA World Series in Madrid

The sixth meet of the FINA Artistic Swimming World Series was held on 25-27 May, in Madrid, Spain. Hungary won three silver and one bronze medal, Fina.org and Független Hírügynökség (FüHü.hu) report. One bronze medal was lost due to certain regulations.

The previous (fifth) meet of the FINA Artistic Swimming World Series was held in Budapest, where the Hungarian team, unfortunately, could not make it to the top three. The sixth meet, however, seemed to bring more success to the girls. If you are interested in what happened at the Fina World Series in Budapest, here are all the details and photos.

[button link=”https://dailynewshungary.com/amazing-gyor-become-first-to-defend-finalfour-title/” type=”big” newwindow=”yes”] Amazing! Győr become first to defend finalfour title! – VIDEO, PHOTOS[/button]

Solo Technical Final silver – Szofi Kiss

Photo: fuhu.hu

On the first day of the FINA Artistic Swimming World Series in Madrid, Hungarian Szofi Kiss won silver in the Solo Technical Final. She scored 75.2077 points, not so far behind gold winner Swiss Vivienne Koch, who scored 76.0091.

“I wanted to win, but the silver medal is good. It is my best result this season. It means a lot, it is a really special thing for me” said Szofi Kiss.

Luca Rényi earned the third best score in solo. However, according to the Fina rules, only one person can stand on the podium from each country, so the bronze medal went to Polish Swietlana Szczepanska.

Solo Technical
  1. Vivienne Koch (SWI) 76.0091
  2. Szofi Kiss (HUN) 75.2077
  3. Swietlana Szczepanska (POL) 66.0431

Free Combination silver

On the second day of the FINA Artistic Swimming World Series in Madrid, the Hungarian team scored 78.5332 and claimed the silver medal in Free Combination. The Hungarian team lead by Russian team captain Natalia Tarasova encompasses Anna Apáthy, Janka David, Boglárka Gács, Mira Gerstenkorn, Szabina Hungler, Szofi Kiss, Luca Renyi, Anna Viktória Szabó and Veronka Szabó. The gold was won by the Spanish team with 90.8332 points.

Free Combination
  1. Spain 90.8332
  2. Hungary 78.5332

Solo Free Final silver – Szofi Kiss

Also on the second day, Szofi Kiss won silver at the Solo Free Routine final with 76.0668, while Swiss Vivienne Koch won first place with 78.0000.

Free Solo
  1. Vivienne Koch (SWI) 78,0000
  2. Szofi Kiss (HUN) 76,0668
  3. Ivette Pinter (AUT) 74,3332

Team Free bronze

The Hungarian team also won the bronze medal in the Team Free category, earning 77.6000 points. The Austrian team won silver by 77.7000, and the Spanish girls won gold by 91.8332 points.

Team Free
  1. Spain 91.8332
  2. Austria 77.7000
  3. Hungary 77.6000

Congratulations to our girls!

Featured image: fuhu

Amazing! Hungarian win at the ATP Tennis World Tour after 36 years

Fucsovics Hungary tennis

Márton Fucsovics gained his first ATP World Tour title on Saturday, beating German Peter Gojowczyk 6-2, 6-2 at the Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open, ATP World Tour and Index.hu report. Fucsovics is now within the Top 50 of the ATP world rankings with 250 points.

Huge achievement

Fucsovics was the first Hungarian player to even get to the ATP finals in 34 years.

He also has been the first Hungarian to claim the ATP World Tour since 1982, when Balázs Taróczy was able to claim the same title in Hilversum 36 years ago.

Taróczy won the same tournament in Geneva 38 years ago, in 1980.

As World Title winner, Fucsovics gained 250 points, and he is now No. 45 on the ATP world rankings. He also earned EUR 89,000. He is the first Hungarian to be within the top 50 of the ATP world rankings since Taróczy, who was world No. 12.

[button link=”https://dailynewshungary.com/amazing-gyor-become-first-to-defend-finalfour-title/” type=”big” newwindow=”yes”] Amazing! Győr becomes first to defend finalfour title – VIDEO, PHOTOS[/button]

The match

The match between Fucsovics and Gojowczyk lasted 1 hour and 8 minutes. Fucsovics managed to stay much more relaxed, calm and concentrated, while his German opponent made quite a few mistakes, which Fucsovics was able to take advantage of.

Fucsovics Hungary tennis
Photo: MTI/EPA/Salvatore Di Nolfi

Fucsovics dominated proceedings from the beginning to the end. Fucsovics dictated the play throughout. He never faced a break point and converted on four of his own. An immediate break to open the match set the tone. In the second set, the German player became more focused, but he could not handle Fucsovics’s serves. As ATP World Tour reports:

“Fucsovics’ serve was an impenetrable force, as he conceded just two points on his first delivery and earning 78 per cent of total service points – to Gojowczyk’s 50 per cent. He would streak to a set and a break lead and celebrated the title on his first championship point. Chair umpire Fergus Murphy overruled a serve initially called wide, giving Fucsovics his sixth ace of the match and the title.”

Fucsovics claimed his trophy to the music of Star Wars, and he gave a speech worthy of champions:

“I really love Switzerland! Last year, I played my first ATP quarter-final in Basel and now I won my first title here, so it’s really special for me. We’ve been working a long time for this. The last two years were very hard for me in my life, but hopefully I will have a very long career after this.” (ATP World Tour)

He also congratulated his German opponent, and he thanked his team, family and friends for their support.

[button link=”https://dailynewshungary.com/handball-flawless-defence-leads-gyor-to-3rd-consecutive-final/” type=”big” newwindow=”yes”] Handball: flawless defence leads Győr to 3rd consecutive final[/button]

Fucsovics continues to play; his next big tournament is the French Open in Paris. His first opponent will be the Canadian Vasek Pospisil, who won the Hungarian Challenger Open in February.

Featured image: MTI/EPA/Salvatore Di Nolfi

Sign up for the Rubik’s Cube World Championship

rubic's cube Rubik Ernő

Red Bull joins forces with Rubik’s Cube, the Hungarian puzzle that tests your problem solving abilities. The world famous energy drink brand has decided to give wings to the Rubik’s cube and organize a World Championship, reports funzine.hu.

The single elimination tournament makes sure that the best and brightest players compete against each other in hopes of winning unique trophies and valuable prizes. Winners of the local qualifying rounds will play in Boston. Of course Hungary is one of the 16 countries that send players to this World Championship.

The Hungarian qualifying rounds will be held on the 27th of May to decide who will represent the home of the Rubik’s Cube.

The competition will be held in Budapest, and the Hungarian inventor of the Rubik’s Cube, Ernő Rubik, is invited.

The Rubik’s Cube is a celebration of intelligence and playfulness, and the sport has grown into epic proportions with fans who show up from all around the world. It is loved by so many people that there are events organized to pay tribute to this amazing toy: read here about the exhibition in New York that was held this February.

Although every seventh person has held a Rubik’s Cube in their hands before, the number of those who can actually solve the puzzle is much less. And in order to become a professional cubist you have to be able to solve the cube in less than a minute. Although it is a famously hard logic puzzle, the current Guinness record for solving it is 4,22 seconds. Read here about Feliks Zemdegs who holds the current record since the Cube for Cambodia 2018 competition and watch the video to see how unbelievably fast he is. There are hundreds of thousands of professional cubists and they have thousands of local and international competitions where they can challenge themselves.

Red Bull World Championship

The first Red Bull Rubik’s Cube World Championship will be held in Boston, on the 22nd of September. Before the championship there will be local tournaments in several countries, like Brazil, Japan, the UK, the USA or India. But even if your country does not hold qualifiers, there are alternative opportunities to get in: either participate in another country or at the online Rubik’s Cube Game, which will hold Wildcard tickets for the World Finals.

No matter where you are from, if you are fast enough, you can enter the championship, and will have a chance at winning the 30.000$ (8 million Forint) in the game mode of your choosing.

An additional 10.000$ will be awarded in cash and prizes.

The Red Bull Rubik’s Cube World Championship is part of the Red Bull Mind Gamers, which is a global hub for mental challenges that aim to improve mind skills in several competencies like memory, creativity, musicality, strategy, visual intelligence and logic. They also organize Escape Room World Championships.

Featured image: facebook.com/RubiksOfficial

FINA Artistic Swimming World Series in Budapest – All details and PHOTOS

As we previously reported, Budapest has the honour to host two prestigious swimming competitions this year. These are the 16th FINA Artistic Swimming World Series and the National Senior, Junior, and Masters Artistic Swimming Championships. Mszusz.hu reports about the FINA World Series that took place between the 18th and 20th of May. Naturally, the location was the Duna Arena, which is considered the most modern swimming complex around the globe today.

synchronised swimming world cup
Photo: MTI

May 18th – Competition Day 1

Duet Technical Routine

1. Anastasia Savchuk, Yelizaveta Yakno (UKR) 90.3170
2. Linda Cerruti, Constanza Ferro (ITA) 88.0272
3. Anna-Maria Alexandri, Eirini Alexandri (AUT) 85.2773

The programme began with the Duet Technical Routine where the Ukranian Anastasia Savchuk and Yelizaveta Yakno won a gold medal. They were the only ones who reached 90 points. They also overtook the Italian duet, Linda Cerruti and Constanza Ferro. The 16-year-old Alekseeva twins, Marina and Vlada, finished in the third place. However, according to the world series’ rules, the twins did not get the third title at the world cup because they have the same nationality as the winners. Therefore, only the duet with the higher points could get the medals. However, they were still given medals by the organisers of another kind. To sum up, the Austrian Alexandri duo got the third place officially.

synchronised swimming world cup
Photo: MTI

Free Combinations

1. Ukraine 92.7000
2. Spain 90.2000
3. Israel 80.5333
4. Hungary 77.3333

The Ukrainian competitors also succeeded in the second part of the day. They received golden medals at the category of Free Combinations, too. One of the most memorable moments of their performance was when one group threw a member to the top of the other group’s base formation. The Spanish team was satisfied because they also received more than 90 points and they reached their goal of testing how their group works since some new members got into the team this year. Even though the Hungarian team was expecting a medal, the Israeli team was way better this day. Anna Tarres, the Spanish trainer of the Israeli team, is an infamously harsh and strict trainer. Right after her team received the medals, she made them go back into the pool and have one-hour training.

synchronised swimming world cup

May 19th – Competition Day 2

Team and Solo Technical Routines

Team Technical Routine
1. Russia 94.6289
2. Ukraine 92.0168
3. Italy 88.3951

Solo Technical Routine
1. Varvara Subbotina (Russian) 94.1510
2. Yelizaveta Yakno (Ukrainian) 91.0814
3. Linda Cerruti (Italian) 88.5434

The famous Russian swimmers introduced themselves right away this day, dominating the competition, as they always did in the last two decades. They got their gold medals in both the Team and the Solo Technical Routine categories. Their fantastic performances were worth points higher than 94 each. One of the biggest questions in the solo category was whether the young Russian super talent, the 17-year-old Varvara Szubbotina, can beat the routinist Ukranian swimmer Yelizaveta Yakno. Finally, she gave an outstanding performance at her very first adult competition. She managed to get many points; she got more than 90 at the end of the day. Three Hungarian swimmers took part in this category: Szofi Kiss ended up being the 8th, while Luca Rényi got the 12th place, and Adél Fodor followed her in the 13th place.

synchronised swimming world cup
Photo: MTI
Artistic swimming russia Budapest
Photo: MTI

Highlight Routine and Duet Free Routine

Highlight Routine
1. Ukraine 93.1333
2. Israel 79.7333
3. Slovakia 75.1000

Duet Free Routine
1. Anastasia Savchuk, Yelizaveta Yakno (UKR) 92.2668
2. Linda Cerruti, Constanza Ferro (ITA) 90.5998
3. Anna-Maria Alexandri, Eirini Alexandri (AUT) 86.0000

budapest fina world series
Photo: József Szaka

The Ukrainians took the leader position in these routines after getting two more gold medals. Szvetlana Kolesnyicsenko, who is one of the most talented swimmers of Russia, got knee problems, and the Russians did not risk their fame. Therefore, they only concentrated on the solo and team routines this time. This made it possible for the Ukrainians to get the two gold medals. Szofi Kiss and Janka Dávid made it to the 6th place in the Duet Routine, that is an outstanding success for the Hungarians. Later during the day, Anastasia Savchuk and Yelizaveta Yakno overtook the leading position again, receiving the fourth gold medal for Ukraine at the Duna Arena. Even though the Italian duet Linda Cerruti and Constanza Ferro got points higher than 90, they ended up in the second place. In the case of the bronze medal, the same happened, as before. The Ukrainian twins got higher points than the Austrian twins, but only the other Ukranian teams’ higher points counted. Therefore, the Australian twins, Anna-Maria and Eirini Alexandri got the third place at the world series.

synchronised swimming world cup
Photo: MTI/Szigetváry Zsolt

20th May – Competition Day 3

 Solo Free Routine

1. Varvara Subbotina (Russian) 95.3330
2. Yelizaveta Yakno (Ukrainian) 92.7999
3. Linda Cerruti (Italian) 90.5668

Varvara Subbotina stole the show in this category with her spectacular performance, and she won with the highest points in the world series. Her points were above 95. We can observe the 17-year-old super talent again between the 18th and 22nd of June in the Duna Arena at the Junior World Cup. Additionally, Szofi Kiss got to the 7th place by reaching almost 80 points. Then comes Veronika Szabó (11th), and Luca Rényi (13th).

synchronised swimming world cup
Photo: MTI/Szigetváry Zsolt

Team Free Routine

1. Russia 97.0000
2. Ukraine 93.3333
3. Israel 80.6668

The Russian team’s performance left all viewers out of breath with its complexity and high quality, which showed what world standard means in artistic swimming. They got 97.000 points; that was the highest of the entire competition during the whole weekend. The Ukrainians succeeded as well, while Hungary ended up in the fourth place, following Israel.

synchronised swimming world cup
Photo: MTI

As part of the closing ceremony, a grand gala took place in the Duna Arena where 90 young swimmers created a composition in the water. After that, all teams and even the 2000 viewers were dancing together to celebrate this amazing event.

Featured image: MTI/Szigetváry Zsolt

3 solo Hungarian contenders at artistic swimming world series

FINA swimming artistic synchronised

The artistic swimming world series will be hosted from Friday to Sunday in Duna Arena, according to FuHu. Three female athletes will represent Hungary in the solo category of artistic swimming: Szofi Kiss, Luca Rényi and Veronika Szabó.

At a press conference, the association’s manager Bernadett Iker confirmed that the representatives of three teams (BVSC, H2O and Medúza) will participate in the world championship in Hungarian colours.

She also highlighted that the association intended to invite several countries, including the greatest masters of the sport to create a strong competition.

According to her, the Russian, the Ukrainian, the Spanish or the Italian team may provide a fair challenge for the Hungarian athletes. Miss Iker shared her hopes of seeing a tough contest, which will contribute to the development of the Hungarian team.

State secretary of sports Tünde Szabó claimed that artistic swimming is a “modern, dynamic, spectacular” sport and it is important that the world championship hosted in Hungary will help to get it more known by the audience of this country.

The Russian coach of the Hungarian team, Natalia Tarasova mentioned that there are many young athletes in the team, so good results serve as inspiring initial experience — like the recent bronze medal at the world championship in Slovakia. This third place was an important stepping stone, but Tarasova emphasised that she hopes for favourable results in the even more challenging competition in Budapest.

Szofi Kiss counts as a true veteran in the team: she has already participated at the Olympic Games.

She stated that the fact that the Hungarian swimmers brought so favourable results last year at this same venue is motivating her to do her best and repeat the success. She also mentioned that seeing the greatest concurrence training in Duna Arena fills her and her fellow Hungarian swimmers with adrenaline and encourages them to prepare for the challenge.

Luca Rényi claimed that the competition is more difficult in solo because there is no one else to help her catch the attention of the jury; it is easier to execute spectacular moves in pairs. She was training in Duna Arena for long, and she had an opportunity to participate in the national championship there. Rényi hopes that knowing the pool and the encouragement coming from the audience may give her advantage during the contest.

Vice mayor Alexandra Szalay-Bobrovinczky added that last year’s FINA World Championship is still talked about today, which greatly helps to increase the reputation of Hungary as a venue of such events.

Head of the organising committee, Éva Szántó announced that the renewed Duna Arena will be inaugurated this weekend. The stadium’s capacity has been reduced from 12,000 to 5,300 visitors.

It is also worth mentioning that the students of the schools in Angyalföld may attend the world championship for free.

The tickets are available through Eventim.

Photo: Facebook.com

Budapest to host world aesthetic group gymnastics championships

world championships gymnastics

Budapest will host the 19th world championships in aesthetic group gymnastics from June 8 to 10.

The event is expected to attract a record number of participants, Tatiana Miroshnychenko, the Spanish president of the international federation IFAGG, told a press conference on Wednesday.

So far 118 teams from nearly 30 countries – nearly 1,500 gymnasts – have entered the competition, she said.

In keeping with tradition, the biggest number of competitors are expected to arrive from Russia and Finland, Miroshnychenko said.

Fo that matter, Budapest continues to host prestigious events this year: first, it will be home to the FINA Artistic Swimming World Series in May to then welcome the contestants of the 2018 World Junior Artistic Swimming Championships between the 18th and 22nd of July.

Featured image: www.facebook.com/MRGSZ-MagyarRitmikusGimnasztikaSzövetség

World’s best search and rescue dog from Hungary

dutch shepherd

9-year-old Tara and her handler from Hungary got the highest points this weekend. A Hungarian dog won the 5th Dutch Shepherd World Championship in IPO R Search and Rescue category. Tara and her handler, Klára Salamon spent the weekend in Rodan, Netherlands, where the Championship was held – szeretlekmagyarorszag.hu reported

The owners and dogs could choose from five disciplines: IPO, mondioring, IPO R, agility and obedience. These competitions were held through 4 days, starting on the 3rd of May. Five years ago the event had 23 participants, this year they had 150 Dutch Shepherds signed up from 17 different countries. The Search and Rescue category had 10 dogs from 8 countries competing against each other.

Tara and Klára won the competition with 287 points out of the maximum 300.

World Championship for Dutch Shepherds

The Dutch Shepherd is a strong working dog, just like the German Shepherd and the Malinois, and it is perfect for almost any kind of dog sport. Originally, it was bred to herd and guard sheep and other farm animals, but soon modern farming techniques started to replace these dogs. Fortunately, the breed is versatile enough, and it found other ways to be helpful. Nowadays Dutch Shepherds are trained as police dogs, search and rescue dogs, they can even become service dogs for the blind.

Search and Rescue

Since both Tara and Klára are members of the Hungarian SOS Rescue Dog Association, they competed in the IPO R category.

The IPO-R program has several exercises in nosework and obedience. These dogs have to be obedient and agile, and they must show certain courage. The dog has to be able to walk over a ladder or over an unstable wooden bridge, which simulates a collapsed building where the rubble is moving. They must use their nose to find the scent of the missing person. Obedience is such a huge part of this exercise because the dogs are working off leash, independently, throughout a big area. They can’t get distracted and go off chasing squirrels. Search and rescue dogs are used in wilderness searches or after natural disasters. They can also locate missing persons in an avalanche or water.

Huge congratulations to Tara and Klára Salamon for their success!

As we wrote last week, a Hungarian dog breeder’s Majorca Mastiff won at the breed’s international dog show in Spain. The dog show was held in the island of Majorca, Spain, where this particular dog breed originates from. Rió, the Hungarian dog champion was found to be the most beautiful dog in the younger than six months category.

Also, we wrote about a Hungarian vizsla, who’s the coolest travel blogger on Instagram. Read more HERE.

Budapest to be rocked by the World Junior Artistic Swimming Championships this summer

World Championships FINA artistic swimming synchronised swimming

It seems like our capital has officially become one of the most popular locations for water sports competitions. After the success of the 2017 FINA World Championships, Budapest continues to host prestigious events this year: first, it will be home to the FINA Artistic Swimming World Series in May to then welcome the contestants of the 2018 World Junior Artistic Swimming Championships between the 18th and 22nd of July.

The FINA Bureau held its decision-making meeting three days before the start of the 2017 FINA World Championships. They announced that Budapest had won the opportunity to host the 2018 World Junior Artistic Swimming Championships. The Hungarian Synchronised Swimming Federation is proud to organise another illustrious event after last year’s success.

“Before the session, we managed to agree with the Canadian Bureau member, Margi Mountjoy, that they would be the hosts in 2019. FINA approved the agreement” Tamás Gyárfás told nemzetisport.hu concerning the other candidate.

For that matter, the FINA World Junior Artistic Swimming Championships or FINA World Junior Synchronised Swimming Championships is held every two years since 1989. The competition features four events: solo, duet, team and free combination.

Brief history

According to mszusz.hu, artistic swimming or synchronised swimming evolved at the turn of the 19th and 20th century from the combination of life-saving movements and swimming techniques. The sport called artistic, “fine” swimming or water ballet – as it was called back then – was practised by men in the beginning, but women took over quite early on.

World Championships FINA artistic swimming synchronised swimming
Photo: www.facebook.com/Budapest2017FINAVizesVilágbajnokság

The first significant representative of the sport was Australian Anette Kellerman, who performed in New York in 1907. From that moment, the fame of the sport spread all over the world. In the upcoming decades, clubs were formed, the rules and legal standards were established.

It became an official Olympic sport in 1984.

Until 1992, the solo and duet events occurred at the Olympic Games. In 1996, only the team performance was allowed. Since 2000, solo and duet formations also form part of the Olympic schedule.

FINA acknowledged synchronised swimming as the fourth official water sport in 1968. The first World Championships was held in 1973, while it debuted at the European Championships in 1974.

In 2014, FINA allowed the participation of male synchronised swimmers at their competitions. The event of “mixed duets” was added to the schedule of the 2015 World Championships. According to the plans, male swimmers will also be able to compete in team performances from 2021.

World Championships FINA artistic swimming synchronised swimming
Photo: www.facebook.com/Budapest2017FINAVizesVilágbajnokság

Hungarian national team

The Hungarian national team is led by Natalia Tarasova, former synchronised swimmer star, who plays a crucial role in the professional advancement of the Hungarian team.

World Championships FINA artistic swimming synchronised swimming
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Moreover, the federation aims to work with further professionals to facilitate the preparation for the 2018 World Junior Artistic Swimming Championships. Among others, the Hungarian girls got to work together with choreographer Anastasia Ermakova, Olympic, World and European Champion synchronised swimmer, who joined forces with Natalia Tarasova to create amazing choreographies for the team.

World Championships FINA artistic swimming synchronised swimming
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The junior national team features Szabina Hungler, Veronika Szabó, Kamilla Kassai, Mira Gerstenkorn, Réka Kleinhappel, Anna Apáthy, Linda Farkas, Boglárka Gács, Réka Valenta, Angéla Takács, Lili Péntek, Anna Viktória Szabó, Dóra Kassai, Tamara Sárkány, Dalma Csöppű, Janka Dávid and Zsuzsa Welker.

World Championships FINA artistic swimming synchronised swimming
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We wish the best of luck to the girls for the 2018 World Junior Artistic Swimming Championships, which will be held between the 18th and 22nd of July!

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Top Hungarian swimmer Dániel Gyurta announces retirement

Gyurta swimming career

Hungarian Olympic, world and European champion swimmer Dániel Gyurta announced on Tuesday that he has retired from competition.

“It is perhaps one of the toughest moments in my life but I had to realise that I can no longer surmount the plenty of difficulties I have had to face recently,” he said, referring to a series of injuries.

Gyurta triumphed in the 200-metre breaststroke in the 2012 Olympics, as well as in three world championships and two European championships. He won the same event in two world short-track championships as well.

Gyurta, who is a member of the IOC Athletes’ Commission, said he would not lose touch with swimming but ruled out that he would become a coach.

Featured image: www.facebook.com/DanielGyurtaOfficial

ATHLETICS BREAKTHROUGH: Anita Márton, World Champion in shot put – VIDEO

hungary sport achievement

Nemzetisport.hu reports the incredible achievement of the Hungarian shot-putter, Anita Márton. Unbeaten in this season, Márton became gold medalist in the final with 19.62 meters. At the World Indoor Championships in Birmingham, the first-ever gold Hungarian medal was won!

Márton was at 2nd place with her 18.87 meters throw after the Jamaican Danniel Thomas-Dodd with 19.05 meters, who was preceded by Márton in the 2012 London Summer Olympics. This season was better for the Polish competitor, Paulina Guba, as well who has achieved remarkable results, but another tough opponent of the Hungarian athlete was the Chinese Kung-Li-csia, World Champion last year at the World Outdoor Chamionships in Athletics in London.

Besides the great names participating in the championship, it was also questionable how the new system introduced in the Championship would affect competitiors. It is based on the idea that until the last throw, the number of participants is halved two times.

This, however, did not affect Márton who opened with 18.29 meters, then continued with 18.30 meters. However, as the tension heightened, she showed what she knows with a world-leading 19.48 meters in the third round that amazed everyone. She did not only achieve the world’s best this year, but also improved her own national record (19.33) that she achieved in Portland in 2016.

Márton Anita success championship
Anita Márton, winner of the Wolrd Championship in Athletics MTI/AP/Matt Dunham)

Although her fourth attempt was invalid, she threw 18.96 meters in the fifth round. In the last round, only 4 competitiors rested in competition, but neither of them could surpass the record of Anita Márton.

Therefore, for the last attempt, she could be sure about her world champion title. This, however, did not discourage her from showing her best in this season, and she further improved her incredible throw with 19.62 meters.

In a late night interview to Nemzeti Sport, she revealed her feelings about her victory:

Have you believed that you can make history?

No, not at all. My aim was to show my best and improve my national record. When it happened with my third throw, I became completely relaxed. I though that I did why I came to Birmingham. My last throw was only the icing on the cake.

Concerning the beginning of the competition, it seemed to start with some difficulty, didn’t it?

Yes, without doubt. However, I was not the only person who started quite badly. At the warm-up, the shots were so cold that the organisers put them in hot water to warm them up. I was totally freaked out that this could happen! I have not seen something like this before. But when I improved my own record, I became totally relaxed as I mentioned.

What do you think about the new system?

I did not really like it. I think it does not do any good for the sport. But it is the last thing that I deal with now. The gold medal is more important than anything else to me.

Were you anxious when only 4 competitiors rested in competition? I saw you walking up and down quite tensely…

I was hoping that no one would precede me. I knew that the Chinese competitior could throw around 20 meters and the Jamaican athlete is also capable of this.

Can you compare this gold medal to any of your previous medals?

I have many medals, but I do not like comparing them to each other. What I see is that this gold is a great step ahead for the Tokyo Olympic Games.

Featured image: MTI/AP/Matt Dunham