European Championship

Viktor Orbán holds talks with President of European Volleyball Confederation

At a meeting held in the Parliament Building, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Aleksandar Boricic, President of the European Volleyball Confederation (CEV) and Executive Vice-President of the International Volleyball Federation, spoke about the results achieved by Hungary in volleyball, the system created for subsidising the sport in Hungary and the European Championships to be held next year, Bertalan Havasi, the Prime Minister’s press chief informed Hungarian news agency MTI.

At the Tuesday morning meeting, which was also attended by President of the Hungarian Volleyball Federation Ferenc Kovács, the parties concluded that Hungarian volleyball had made great progress in recent years. They particularly highlighted the performance of the women’s team, the results achieved at the last two European Championships, and the achievement of winning group three of the World Grand Prix series.

Photo: www.kormany.hu

The fact that volleyball has been included in the system created for subsidising team spectator sports via corporation tax benefit revenues is a great opportunity, but also involves a great many tasks, the parties agreed at the meeting.

The parties are looking forward to the European Championships to be held in 2019, one of the hosts of which will be Hungary.

Budapest has already proved its worth as one of the world’s sports capitals with the World Aquatics Championships, and so there is no obstacle to hosting other international sports events at the highest levels, they concluded.

The Hungarian men’s team may qualify for participation in the European Championship between August 2018 and January 2019, while the women’s team will take part in the event as co-host. The Men’s European Volleyball Championship will be held in France, Slovenia, Belgium and the Netherlands, while in addition to Hungary the Women’s European Championship will be hosted by Poland, Slovakia and Turkey.

Featured image: www.kormany.hu

Team Hungary triumphed at the European Short Course Swimming Championships

internet

Hungarian swimmers proved once again that we belong to the best swimming nations. The delegation came home from the European Short Course Swimming Championships held in Copenhagen with 8 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze medals, thus finishing in the second place of the medal table. Congratulations!

According to len.eu, Katinka Hosszú, also known as the Iron Lady, started out with an easy race in her beloved 400m individual medley. This was the 75th medal at the international stage for the three-time Olympic champion. Her winning time was 4:24.78 (in Netanya she broke the world record with 4:19.46), which nicely shows the improvement she has made in the past years. Meanwhile, Péter Bernek won a silver medal in the 400m freestyle event.

Photo: www.facebook.com/MagyarÚszóSzövetség-MagyarÚszóválogatott

On the second day, the team clinched two golds, a silver and a bronze medal. Katinka Hosszú delivered another gold, as she retained her 100m back title with ease. Péter Bernek showed his skills for the first time in the 400m individual medley with an outstanding performance, while the other Hungarian, Gergely Gyurta clinched bronze. To make the collection full, Boglárka Kapás won a silver medal in 800m freestyle.

Photo: www.facebook.com/MagyarÚszóSzövetség-MagyarÚszóválogatott

On the third day, Katinka Hosszú clinched two titles in an hour in the 200m backstroke and 100m freestyle. The last one was her 50th gold medal at major meets.

“I’m really satisfied with the time, I felt the 200m back in my body. I wanted to swim a new record but it was almost impossible with half an hour after the previous final.”

The next day the Iron Lady won the 200m individual medley event and the 50m backstroke event, thus completing her mission, winning all six events she competed in. In the 200m medley, she was followed by Evelyn Verrasztó in the second place.

Photo: www.facebook.com/MagyarÚszóSzövetség-MagyarÚszóválogatott

On the last day, the Hungarian fans could also celebrate thanks to Boglárka Kapás. The four-time European champion of London 2016 left behind her ‘short-course demons’ and finally stepped on the top of the podium for the first time in her career after winning in the 400m freestyle event. The last medal was delivered by Tamás Kenderesi: he finished in the third place of the 200m butterfly event.

Photo: www.facebook.com/MagyarÚszóSzövetség-MagyarÚszóválogatott

Featured image: www.facebook.com/MagyarÚszóSzövetség-MagyarÚszóválogatott

Hungary to play in League C of new UEFA Nations League

With the qualification groups for the 2018 World Cup now finished, UEFA has announced the seedings for the inaugural 2018/19 Nations League. Hungary will participate in League C, the draw being made on 24 January next year.

Hungary, seeding 25th in the UEFA coefficient rankings will play in League C of the 2018/19 UEFA Nations League after being edged out of a League B spot at the last-gasp by Turkey.

Each of UEFA’s 55 member countries will compete in the new competition, being split into four divisions – A, B, C, and D, with the four league winners earning the right to play at UEFA Euro 2020. Seeds 1-12 will play in League A, seeds 13-24 in League B, seeds 25-29 in League C, and seeds 40-55 in League D.

Each League will be split into four mini-groups of three or four teams, the matches of which shall be played in September, October and November 2018 with teams playing each other at home and away.

The new competition will also see promotion and relegation, with the four group-winners in leagues B, C, and D moving up a division for the next edition of the competition, and the four bottom teams in their respective groups in leagues A, B, and C being relegated to the league below. In March 2020 the four group winners at each division level will play semi-finals and a final to decide the final four remaining places at Euro 2020 for those teams who have failed to qualify via the top two places in the traditional qualification groups, which will come to a close in autumn 2019.

League A

Germany, Portugal, Belgium, Spain, France, England, Switzerland, Italy, Poland, Iceland, Croatia, Netherlands

League B

Austria, Wales, Russia, Sweden, Ukraine, Ireland, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, Denmark, Czech Republic, Turkey

League C

Pot 1: Hungary, Romania, Scotland, Slovenia
Pot 2: Greece, Serbia, Albania, Norway
Pot 3: Montenegro, Israel, Bulgaria, Finland
Pot 4: Cyprus, Estonia, Lithuania

League D

Azerbaijan, Macedonia, Belarus, Georgia, Armenia, Latvia, Faroe Islands, Luxembourg, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Liechtenstein, Malta, Andorra, Kosovo, San Marino, Gibraltar

As we wrote last week, a late goal from substitute Dániel Böde gave Hungary a well-deserved victory against the Faroe Islands in the final fixture of the FIFA 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign in the Groupama Aréna in Budapest tonight and ensured a third-place finish for his country in the final group standings.

Photo: mlsz.hu

Hungarian success at the Raceboard European Championships

We are thrilled to report that Áron Gádorfalvi won the men’s category at the 2017 Raceboard European Championships held in Balatonfüred, while Bence Sánta came in second. To make the Hungarian collection of medals full, Sára Cholnoky won a bronze medal in the women’s category.

The Raceboard & DII European Championships went down and came to an end successfully in Balatonfüred. It was a great sport diplomatic success for the Hungarian Windsurfing Association that they were trusted with organising a world event after twenty years. But they definitely lived up to the expectations and presented a well-organised championships.

Lake Balaton seemed to be a perfect choice of location since it is known for light wind conditions, which provided perfect racing conditions in the first part of the competition. According to Piotr Oleksiak’s report, eleven races were completed within three days. It got a bit harder thereafter, but the final 12th race was conducted right before the last possible warning signal.

Áron Gádorfalvi is a true racing veteran, who participated at 6 (!) Olympic Games. According to nemzetisport.hu, out of the twelve rounds, he managed to finish in the top 3 eleven times, in fact, he won eight races, which is quite an outstanding achievement. He confidently came before everyone with his 13 points, thus winning his category.

Áron Gádorfalvi – Photo: www.europeans2017.raceboard.org

This was a very special moment for Áron, because it had been over twenty years since he last raced on his home ground. The support he got from locals, spectators and his family was incredible. “It is always easier for me here as I train a lot here and know the lake well.”

The silver medallist Bence Sánta finished in the top 3 in six races and won one race, thus accumulating 32 points. The bronze medallist was Petr Kucera with 35 point. Another Hungarian, Miklós Körtvélyesi (75) also made it into the top 10, he finished in the 8th place out of the 71 contestants.

Bence Sánta – Photo: www.europeans2017.raceboard.org
The results of the Raceboard Men Class:
  1. Áron Gádorfalvi (HUN)
  2. Bence Sánta (HUN)
  3. Petr Kucera (CZE)
  4. Patrik Pollak (SVK)
  5. Toni Stadler (GER)
  6. Radim Kamensky (CZE)
  7. Fernando Consorte (ARG)
  8. Miklós Körtevélyesi (HUN)
  9. Maciej Wójcik (POL)
  10. Artur Manelski (POL)
Bence Sánta and Áron Gádorfalvi – Photo: www.europeans2017.raceboard.org

The Latvian Ilona Grinberga (22) performed the best in the women’s field. She was followed by the French Viviane Ventrin (25) and the Hungarian Sára Cholnoky (29). Cholnoky managed to make it into the top 3 in seven races and even won one round. Two other Hungarian ladies made it into the top 10 as well: Luca Gádorfalvi finished in the 7th place, while Noémi Gilicze finished in the 10th place.

Sára Cholnoky – Photo: www.europeans2017.raceboard.org
The results of the Raceboard Women Class:
  1. Ilona Grinberga (LAT)
  2. Viviane Ventrin (FRA)
  3. Sára Cholnoky (HUN)
  4. Molly Howell (GBR)
  5. Jana Slívová (CZE)
  6. Maria Jopyk-Misiak (POL)
  7. Luca Gádorfalvi (HUN)
  8. Krystyna Soltyka (POL)
  9. Dagmar Hruba (CZE)
  10. Noémi Gilicze (HUN)
Sára Cholnoky on the right – Photo: www.europeans2017.raceboard.org
The results of the DII Class:

Division A:

  1. Janko Pristusek (SLO)
  2. Stratos Efthyvoulidis (GRE)
  3. Chris Valavanis (GRE)
  4. Miro Skorjanc (SLO)
  5. Uros Meza (SLO)
  6. Boris Brovinsky (SLO)

Division C:

  1. Irek Kutyla (POL)
  2. Juris Rozkalns (LAT)
  3. Peter Murray (GBR)
  4. Florent Lambert (GBR)
  5. Eric Bouillet (CAN)
  6. Helmut Honsberg (GER)
  7. Igor Horvat (SLO)

And finally, the results of the Raceboard Youth Men category, which also brought great successes for Team Hungary:

  1. Richárd Geiger (HUN)
  2. Toby Cave (GBR)
  3. Roland Szlávi (HUN)
  4. Thomas Cave (GBR)
  5. Oliver Carny (SVK)
  6. Bálint Antal Morvai (HUN)
  7. Vladimir Lesnicov (MDA)
  8. Márk Hanzély (HUN)
  9. Viktor Andok (HUN)
  10. Peter Funk (SVK)
  11. Alexandr Lesnicov (MDA)
Richárd Geiger and Roland Szlávi – Photo: www.europeans2017.raceboard.org

The official media partner of the Raceboard European Championships was Daily News Hungary.

Featured image: www.europeans2017.raceboard.org – Áron Gádorfalvi

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The competitions of the Raceboard European Championships have started in Balatonfüred

race board surf Balatonfüred

The Raceboard & DII European Championships is held between the 4th and 9th of September in Balatonfüred. The opening ceremony of the event was held on Monday so that the international field could start competing today.

The lovers of water sports can try several sporting activities at Lake Balaton, so the “Hungarian Sea” also offers excellent circumstances for surfers. Thanks to the world organisation and the Hungarian Windsurfing Association, Hungary is now the organiser of a world event after 20 years.

Balatonfüred has been the home of several events this year, for instance, it welcomed open water swimmers during the 2017 FINA World Championships. In this case it is the home of the Raceboard European Championships, because it seemed to be an excellent and easily accessible choice.

The opening ceremony was held at a stage close to the famous Tagore Promenade and the pier. The competitors were first welcomed by István Bóka, the Mayor of Balatonfüred, who also thanked the organisers for choosing his city. He emphasized that Balatonfüred would love to welcome further surfing events after the championships and he hopes that the guests would return to the holiday resort later.

Péter Sárfalvi, Deputy State Secretary for Second Line Sport, emphasized that Hungary is the great supporter of sports, the country has organised many competitions, and the number of world events will further grow in the next years, according to the plans of the government.

Photo: Daily News Hungary

Dr Lajos Kollár, the president of the Hungarian Yachting Association, and Mihály Varga, the president of the Hungarian Windsurfing Association, welcomed the competitors and audience together. With the joint speech they wanted to express that the two associations consider each other siblings. Mihály Varga highlighted that the organising of the European Championships is a great sport-diplomatic success, while Dr Lajos Kollár attracted attention to the Finn dinghy world championship in Balatonföldvár.

Representing the International Windsurfing Association, Pjotr Oleksiak said that Lake Balaton is a beautiful location and went on by officially opening the championships.

The almost 100 contestants come from 22 countries. The curiosity of the European Championships is that several countries outside of the Old Continent also entered the competition. All in all the participating countries include Spain, Argentina, Lithuania, Moldova, Latvia, France, Sweden, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, the Netherlands, Germany, Portugal, Israel, Canada, Belgium, Australia, Algeria, Slovenia, Poland, Greece and Switzerland.

Photo: Daily News Hungary

The closing ceremony, which will also include the last events, the medal ceremonies and the gala dinner, will be held on Saturday.

The official media partner of the Raceboard European Championships is Daily News Hungary.

Photo: Daily News Hungary

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July ends with great Hungarian modern pentathlon successes

From 17 to 24 July two important championships took place within the world of modern pentathlon. The first was the UIPM (YA) World Championships for juniors under 19 years in the Czech capital, Prague, while the second was the European Senior Championships in the capital of Belarus, Minsk.

Hungary won two bronze medals at the Juniors’ Championships. The Hungarian team, which included Michelle Gulyás and Luca Barta, won a bronze medal in the team-relay women’s competition.

The other bronze was earned in the men team’s competition thanks to the Hungarian team which included Barnabas Burcsik, Bence Viczián, and Balázs Szép.

At the European Championship, owing to Róbert Kasza and Sarlota Kovács, Hungary won two silver medals and one bronze. Kasza won silver in the men’s tournament. Kovács her silver won in the women tournament in the same way. Together, Kasza and Kovács won the team-relay mix’s bronze medal thereafter.

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Hungarian ice cream awarded in Bologna

Brigitanya, an ice cream workshop from Gyenesdiás won a second prize at the European round of the ice cream world championship, according to Keszthely TV.

Il mio cioccolato (My chocolate). It is the name of the specialty that will represent Hungary at the international ice cream-making contest. The unique ice cream was made by a workshop from Gyenesdiás, and it won the first round in Budapest. The ice cream shop has been quite popular among the local people so far, but the award-winning specialty has attracted even more guests.

“We came from Keszthely, and we were cycling with my child to get here. We heard about the award-winning ice cream, so we decided to try it during the holidays”, one of the guests claimed.

It was not the first time this shop made an awarded ice cream. They have received a special award last year at the Ice Cream of Lake Balaton contest, and they have won silver label at the Ice Cream of the Year competition. It is important for them to combine the well-known tastes with something unique. They often visit ice cream expos, and they eventually get inspiration from a delicious dessert. Il mio cioccolato is a dark chocolate ice cream with passion fruit, wafer and cocoa bean fractions.

 “We thought that chocolate is already a popular taste, and we decided to start from one type or attribute of chocolate. As chocolate is basically sweet, we wanted to pair it with a little bit sour fruit. That is why we have chosen the passion fruit, which comes from South America and has higher acid content”, explained ice cream maker Renáta Somogyi.

The unique ice cream is constantly available at their shop, but their former successes are also worth tasting. The sour cherry ice cream with cardamom brought them the silver medal at the competition of confectioneries and ice cream manufactures in the compulsory taste category, while the wine foam with Williams pear won first prize in the optional taste category.

The award means a lot for Renáta, who began making desserts as a hobby, but this activity grew to be her profession. The ice cream store has been open for eleven years and it is quite popular. They always put effort into making rarities for their beloved guests.

Ce: bm

Surf’s Up – The Raceboard European Championships is coming to Hungary

The Hungarian Windsurfing Association’s significant event, the Raceboard European Championships is coming up very soon in Balatonfüred. It will be held between the 4th and 9th of September.

According to the president of the Hungarian Windsurfing Association Mihály Varga, organising an international event like this has been a dream for the federation for a long time. The first step was a SuperCup round two years ago, which was followed by visits to international Raceboard competitions to prepare the Hungarian venue. With the support of the Ministry of Human Resources, the dream became reality.

President of organising committee Levente Nagy-Pál stated at a former press conference that the windsurfer association takes it as a great success that Hungarian windsurfing has been brought up from the underground, as more and more hobbyist and professionals are attracted by this watersport.

He said that Raceboard is an extended Olympic category that contains the RSX that is also included in the Games’ program. 110-120 windsurfers are expected to compete at the European Championship, 19-20 of them are Hungarians, which includes six times Olympian Áron Gádorfalvi.

But what exactly is a Raceboard? According to windsurfing.hu, it is a race surf that also has a drop-keel, it is 3-4 metres long, the biggest sail is 9.5 m2 for men, and 8.5 m2 for women and juniors. The category favours little or mild wind, especially in Central Europe.

What makes the event so special for us is that Daily News Hungary is one of the main partners of the European Championships. We’d like to get you in a surfing mood with the promo video of the competition. See you at Balatonfüred 😉

Featured image: www.facebook.com/MagyarSzörfSzövetség

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Exceptional unselfishness by Hungarian runner

Nemzetisport.hu reported about an exceptional act by a Hungarian runner in the final of women’s 3000 m obstacle course at the U20 European Championships. Two Hungarian runners made it into the final, one of them fell to the ground, but the other helped her immediately.

The potential winner and the leader of the European ranking list, Lili Anna Tóth took the lead right away in the final, but she fell quite badly in the third round and posed as an obstacle for the runners behind her. Everyone passed by except for fellow Hungarian runner Tíra Pavuk, who stopped and tried to get Lili Anna Tóth back on her feet.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t continue the race, she suffered serious injuries and had to be taken to the hospital. Then Pavuk continued the race amidst an applause. The applause could give her an enormous boost, because she still managed to forerun someone in the end, thus finishing in the 12th place.

“I have to admit, I didn’t see Lili’s fall. Naturally, I tried to encourage her to continue, but she fell so badly that she couldn’t. When I asked her how she was, she said that she was dizzy, I could tell that she was shocked. I just got a call from the hospital, so I know that she didn’t break a bone. The applause I received from the audience was fantastic, first I thought that they were cheering for another event. My goal was to reach the final, I still did it with a personal record, so I’m satisfied” said Tíra Pavuk.

“Due to the fall, Lili hit her head and hip, so she had to be taken to the hospital. Luckily, she didn’t break a bone, but they kept her for the night in case of a concussion. If everything goes well, they’ll let her go next morning. I’d like to express how proud I am of Tíra, she was welcomed with an applause in the restaurant at our accommodation” said team leader György Lengyák.

Ce: bm

Hungary hosts Sailing and Windsurfing Championship at Lake Balaton

It is a special year for sailors and windsurfers in Hungary, as European and world championships will be held in two different locations at Lake Balaton, so there will be 155 sailing competitions and eight big regattas in Hungary this year.

Hungarian Yachting Association (MVSZ) and Hungarian Windsurfing Association (MSZSZ) held a press conference together in Várkert Bazár on Tuesday, and they mentioned that the success of the Hungarian sailors, the well-trained hosts and judges makes it possible for Hungary to compete for hosting more and more international championships.

András Holczhauser speaking. Photo: Daily News Hungary

Chief secretary of MVSZ András Holzhauser highlighted that multiple Hungarian sailors belong to the international elite again, after several years, like Zsombor Berecz in Finn dinghy – he received silver medal in the world championship final last week – Mária Érdi in Laser Radial, Benjamin and Jonatán Vadnai in Laser Standard, and the Gyapjas brothers in 470 type.

This year’s most significant event is the Finn dinghy world championship between 1st and 9th September, which will be held in Balatonföldvár. Laser European Championship – which also falls into the category of Olympic ships – will be hosted by Balatonfüred Yacht Club (BYC), which is celabrating its 150th birthday this year. The European championship of one of the most active larger boat categories, the J/24 will also be held in Balatonfüred.

MVSZ has already won the hosting rights for more international competitions: Dragon European Champioship will take place in Balatonfüred in May, and Spartacus Sailing Club will provide a venue for Laser Radial European Championship.

Levente Nagy-Pál speaking. Photo: Daily News Hungary

Hungarian Windsurfing Association’s significant event will be the Raceboard European Championship in Balatonfüred between 4th and 9th September. President of organising committee Levente Nagy-Pál stated that the windsurfer association takes it as a great success that Hungarian windsurfing has been brought up from the underground, as more and more hobbyist and professionals are attracted by this watersport. He told that Raceboard is an extended Olympic category that contains the RSX that is also included in the Games’ program. 110-120 windsurfers are expected for the European Championship, 19-20 of them are Hungarians, which includes six times Olympian Áron Gádorfalvi. He might win the gold medal, as the Hungarian audience hopes.

At the end of the press conference, Lajos Kollár from MVSZ and Mihály Varga from MSZSZ signed a strategical cooperation contract.

Photo: Daily News Hungary

Ce: bm

Russia triumphs in Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championships in Budapest

Budapest, May 21 (MTI) – Russia’s Averina twins won all finals of the Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championships in Budapest on Sunday:

Loop

1. Dina Averina (Russia) 18,200 points

2. Aleksandra Soldatova (Russia) 18,150

3. Linoy Ashram (Israel) 17,975

Ball

1. Arina Averina (Russia) 18,850 points

2. Soldatova 18,125

3. Alina Harnasko (Belarus) 17,550

Clubs

1. A. Averina 19,075 points

2. D. Averina 19,000

3. Ashram 17,750

Ribbon

1. D. Averina 17,625 points

2. Katrin Taseva (Bulgaria) 17,150

3. Neviana Vladinova (Bulgaria) 16,975

Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championships – Saturday

Qualification results in the Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championships in Budapest on Saturday:

1. Russia: 182,175 points

2. Belarus: 171,450

3. Bulgaria: 170,300

Russian Team

Photo: MTI

Russia in the lead after day one of the RG European Championships in Budapest

The Russian Federation are in the lead after the first day of the team event and qualification at the 33rd Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

Though Olympic Champion Margarita Mamun is on a hiatus and Olympic silver medallist Yana Kudryavtseva has retired, the Russian Federation still reigned supreme over the rivals on the first day of the RG European Championships. Aleksandra Soldatova – the only World Champion in the field of gymnasts –, Arina Averina and Dina Averina plus the junior group opened up a comfortable lead, breaking the 90 point threshold on day one.

Dina Averina (RUS)

Following Russia are Belarus, who have a relatively comfortable gap over Israel and Bulgaria – the two teams will go head-to-head in a tight battle for the bronze medal on Saturday. One of the surprises of the first day was the very solid performance of hosts Hungary: the Hungarian team is 8th at halfway.

The European Championships was opened with a ceremony before the last group of gymnasts took to the stage in the evening. Georges Guelzec, president of UEG, Dr. Zoltán Magyar, president of the Hungarian Gymnastics Federation and Dr. Judit Körmendy-Ékes, president of the Hungarian Rhythmic Gymnastics Federation gave the opening speeches.

Fanni Pigniczki (HUN)
Alexandra Kis (HUN)
Míra Váray (HUN)

The competition continue today, the teams will follow each other in reverse order – so the best teams will participate in the evening programme.

TEAM RESULTS AFTER DAY ONE

1. Russian Federation 90.825 points
2. Belarus 86.900
3. Israel 84.700
4. Bulgaria 84.300
5. Italy 81.425
6. Ukraine 79.600
7. Azerbaijan 79.450
8. Hungary 75.600
9. Greece 74.000
10. Spain 73.950

Photo: MTI

A Hungarian newcomer won the police motorcyclist European championship

The patrol from Szeged became the best police motorcyclist in Europe.

According to Szeretlekmagyarorszag.hu, it was his first time to attend the international competition, and he managed to beat the defending champion. Who is a fellow Hungarian.

It was the first time that Attila Farkas took part in the international competition and it brought him immediate success.

International Police Motor Corporation (IPMC) organizes this European championship in every four years, where participants race individually and in teams. There are both touring and agility tasks. Budapest’s Police Department has been attending the event every year since 1991, and they always scored at least in the first three, as Onroad.hu states.

Competitors from 14 countries arrived at Kulmbach for the European championship of police motorcyclists as part of the Motorradsternfahr. Only policemen from Budapest participated in it from Hungary up until this year, when others also got a chance.

“Police motorcyclists must pass a licence-renewing exam every year. Based on its results, the chief instructor decided that I can also attend the European championship along with him and the champions of years past,” patrol of Csongrád Country Police Department Attila Farkas told Delmagyar.hu.

“As everyone races with their own vehicle, we had to ride there first,” the policeman from Szeged said, who also told that, if Hungarian cycles would not be so comfortable and controllable, he could not stand the long journey. For example they traveled through a snowy field in 2 degrees Celsius in Linz, Austria.

“The event began with a mountain hiking, the competition took place in the afternoon,” the Hungarian policeman said, who also stated that the most difficult of the agility tasks was the slow slalom. “The point of this task was to ride along the marked track without touching the ground with our feet or touching a cone, taking as much time as possible.” When last year’s champion Zoltán Szabó crossed the finish line, everyone thought that no one could go slower. “I exceeded his record by 4 seconds,” Farkas told smiling.

Photo: delmagyar.hu – Frank Yvette

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Working for the revival of Hungarian snooker

Great prizes, celebrated players – snooker is flourishing again after its 150-year-old history. Although there is no vibrant snooker life in Hungary, one gentleman, Gábor Buzás, sports commentator at Eurosport TV Channel is working on changing the current situation, Forbes.hu reports.

At the end of the 19th century, there were so many British soldiers, and they had so much spare time in India, that pool begun to be less popular, and completely new rules were developed with using the equipment at disposal. This is how snooker was born.

The game was popular among the soldiers in the crown colony at first. It was not until more than half a decade later when the first snooker world championship had been organized. In 1927, a famous snooker player, Fred Davis defeated everyone, and until 1946, he did not have any tough opponent. He later retired, because it turned out that his younger brother proved to be a potential opponent, who would have been able to defeat the champion. After WWII, due to the lack of interest and sponsors, championships had not been organized until the 80s when the first televisions and colourcasts appeared. Fans continued to pull for their favourite snooker player sitting in the sofa, because it was more comfortable. No serious prizes could be won at that time but, thanks to the spread of televisions and broadcasting sports events, the world has become familiar with the players. In 1985, 18.5 million excited British watched the snooker championship in TV.

Snooker had slowly become a profitable game. Prizes of a few hundred pounds became grand prizes of 25 million pounds. The winner received 6000 pounds in 1977, 60,000 pounds in 1985 and 270,000 pounds in 2003. This year, the winner of the snooker championship taking place between 15 April and 1 May may receive 375,000 pounds. For the title of Masters, players can receive 200,000 pounds, for the title of UK Championship, they may receive 170,000 pounds, and for the title of China Championship, they can win 200,000 pounds. The lowest grand prize to win this season is 25,000 Euros.

Bulcsú Révész, the ten-year old talent
Bulcsú Révész, the ten-year old talent
photo: Facebook/Révész Bucsú

The Hungarian snooker flourished at the beginning of the 90s. (…) At that time, snooker was played in the rural regions, whereas today, it is limited to Budapest. (…) There have been about 50 entrants at Hungarian contests recently. Hungarian players are amateurs. Currently, no money prize can be won, and this is what I try to change. We are now having two talented young gentlemen, the thirteen-year-old Attila Horváth, who was a finalist at the national championship last year; and we also have the ten-year-old Bulcsú Révész, who, according to experts, will dominate the Hungarian field. My aim is to deploy as many gifted Hungarian players as possible.

Attila Horváth, the gifted thirteen-year-old gentleman
Attila Horváth, the gifted thirteen-year-old gentleman
photo: Facebook/Horváth Attila

Gábor Buzás sports commentator told Forbes.hu.

The Hungarian sports commentator has even launched a fundraising in the interest of the gala taking place on 18 March. It proved to be effective, because he original aimed to collect 16,000 Dollars, but it duplicated after four months. There is a huge interest in the gala, especially because the champion of 2010, Neil Robertson, and the two-time world champion Ali Carter are also going to participate.

Ce: bm

U21 Euros draw – Hungary against Sweden, Turkey, Belgium, Malta and Cyprus

The draw for the qualification phase of the 2019 Under 21 European Championship took place late last week and has pitted Hungary with Sweden, Turkey, Belgium, Malta and Cyprus, Hungarian Football Federation’s (MLSZ) press release said.

Fifty-four nations spread across nine groups of six teams will vie for places at the tournament finals which will take place in Italy and San Marino. Hungary were in the fourth group of seeds having slipped back in the rankings following a 5th-placed finish in their last U21 Euro qualification group.

Malta were drawn into Hungary’s group first, followed by Cyprus, ourselves, Turkey as third seeds, Belgium from the second pot and Sweden from the highest-ranked group.

According to MLSZ, the nine group winners will automatically qualify for the finals proper with the four best runners-up entering a play-off to determine who takes the final two available spots (12 teams will participate in the tournament, of which one will Italy who qualify automatically as hosts, while San Marino will still have to qualify). Players born on or after 1st January 1996 will be eligible for this edition of the competition.

The qualification phase will start at the end of March but the draw dictates that Hungary will only take to the pitch for the first time in September when they entertain Malta before then closing the year’s fixture list with an away fixture in Turkey. The qualification campaign culminates in October 2018.

Hungary U21’s head coach Michael Boris had this to say: “Two years ago Sweden won the U21 European Championship and this year they’ll be in the tournament finals, which proves they produce excellent youth teams, while Belgium and Turkey will be similarly tough opponents. Ours will be a difficult task but we’ll do everything we can to prepare perfectly for the matches ahead of us. I hope we can play good matches and can compete for Euro qualification.

There are more than seven months before our first qualifier and in this time I would like to explore every playing option and give every player the chance to prove themselves in order to put together the best possible national team. In the previous campaign, our 3-3 home draw against Portugal showed there is great potential amongst the Hungarian youngsters and we would like this to be evident throughout the whole of the coming campaign. The most important thing in the coming months is the scouting and selection of the players as it is my conviction that we can put together a very good team which is capable of achieving good results during the course of these group matches”.

The teams drawn in Group 6:

Sweden
Belgium
Turkey
HUNGARY
Cyprus
Malta

Hungary’s 2019 U21 Euro qualification schedule:

2017:

September 5: Hungary-Malta
October 10: Turkey-Hungary
November 10: Hungary-Sweden
November 14: Cyprus-Hungary

2018:

March 22: Hungary-Cyprus
March 26: Belgium-Hungary
September 7: Sweden-Hungary
September 11: Hungary-Belgium
October 12: Malta-Hungary
October 16: Hungary-Turkey

Photo: MLSZ

Hungarian medal rain at the European Short Track Speed Skating Championships

Speed skating has been an emerging sport in Hungary for some years now, the Hungarian team comes home from most competitions with several medals. This is exactly what happened at the European Short Track Speed Skating Championships held in Torino last week, where they finished with one gold and five silver medals.

Regarding the men’s field, Shaolin Sándor Liu won Hungary’s first European Champion title at 1000 metres. According to m4sport.hu, the World Champion (500 metres) athlete also did great in the 3000 metres super final and with his one-one silver medal these make him the most successful skater of the Hungarian team.

“It was a team work, my brother had my back the whole time, so I was able to get quicker and quicker. Our coach told us to help each other if we were to compete in the final. I think it was a very exciting race” said Shaolin Sándor.

His similarly talented brother, Shaoang Liu finished in the second place behind Shaolin at 1000 metres, after winning another silver medal at 1500 metres the previous day.

Out of the women’s team, Andrea Keszler did the best with an individual silver medal at 1000 metres and another silver in relay with Zsófia Kónya, Sára Bácskai and Petra Jászapáti.

The Hungarian team won six medals all together: one gold and five silvers. Congratulations!

Photos: MTI, www.facebook.com/ShaolinLiu

Copy editor: bm

European Table Tennis Championships officially get under way with opening ceremony

 

Budapest (MTI) – The 2016 European Table Tennis Championships officially got under way in Budapest with the event’s opening ceremony at the Tuskecsarnok arena on Tuesday evening.

Miklós Stocker, the secretary-general of the Hungarian Table Tennis Federation (MOATSZ) and the event’s tournament director, told a press conference before the opening ceremony that it was “huge” for Hungary to be hosting the championships with 250 athletes from 44 countries. The organisers will do everything they can to make sure that the event runs smoothly, he said.

MOATSZ President Roland Natran noted that this year’s event was Hungary’s third time to host the European Table Tennis Championships, having already hosted the tournament in 1958 and 1982.

International Table Tennis Federation CEO and former MOATSZ secretary-general Judit Faragó said it was an honour for her to welcome the athletes to the championships in her home city.

Hungarian men’s national basketball team qualifies for EuroBasket after 18 years – PHOTO GALLERY

The Hungarian men’s basketball team has qualified for the 2017 European Basketball Championship. Hungary’s win against Luxembourg and Macedonia’s defeat by Great Britain secured the Hungarian team’s place at the 2017 EuroBasket, index.hu writes.

Hungary beat Luxembourg 68-65, winning five out of five games in the qualifier round and advancing to the championship as the first team in Group G. Ádám Hanga (above), one of the key players of the team has also been selected by FIBA into the dream team of the round.

The men’s basketball team hasn’t managed to qualify for the EuroBasket since 1999. That year, the Hungarian team departed after three very tight games, one of which the Russian team won by only one point. These 18 years are not the longest period of absence in the team’s history; before 1999, the last time they qualified for the championship was in 1969.

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The team’s improvement can be traced through the years. They started the 2011 qualifiers with big hopes and there were rumours about a “rejuvenated team”, but they couldn’t bring the desired results. The 2013 qualifiers ended with Hungary’s loss as well, but with two closely matched games against Croatia and Ukraine.

Since 2015, the head coach of the team is Stojan Ivkovic. The Hungarian team lost the 2015 qualifiers only by two points. The previous years’ work culminated in the team’s advancement to the final stage of the 2017 championship, which will be hosted by Helsinki, Tel-Aviv, Cluj-Napoca, and Istambul between August 31 and September 17 in 2017.

The Hungarian team is playing one more game in Szolnok, Hungary against Macedonia on September 17 at 4:30pm CEST, which can be watched live on the website of Hungarian sports channel M4.

Cover photo: MTI

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