European Championship

Sensation at the European Athletics Championship: Balázs Baji wins silver medal

Origo.hu writes that the Hungarian athlete Balázs Baji won a silver medal in 110 metres hurdles last Saturday in Amsterdam at the 2016 European Athletics Championships. This is a huge success for Hungarian athletics!

baji balazs futasThe hurdler, who finished in the 4th place at the last European Championships, beat his own national record by one hundredth with his 13.28 time after setting it in the semi-final. The gold medal was won by the French Dimitri Bascou with 13.25 minutes.

The athlete from Békéscsaba was in the middle field after the start but made his way up gradually and was already in the third place at half-way and then went for the silver medal as he didin`t have a chance of beating Bascou.

Balázs Baji won the second medal of the Hungarian team in Amsterdam: first, Anita Márton finished in second place on Thursday in shot put. Moreover, heptathlonists Xénia Krizsán and Györgyi Zsivoczky-Farkas finished in the fourth and fifth place. And lastly the 4×100 m women`s relay team made up from Fanni Schmelcz, Éva Kaptur, Gréta Kerekes and Anasztázia Nguyen set a national record with a time of 44.34 seconds.

Photos: www.facebook.com/BalazsBaji

Copy editor: bm

Budapest to host European Aquatic Championships in 2020

Budapest, July 9 (MTI) – Hungary will host the European championships in all aquatic sports in 2020, Paolo Barelli, president of the Ligue Europeenne de Natation (LEN) announced in Budapest on Saturday.

The events will not be staged at the same time, as in the case of world championships, but the water polo tournament will be held in January, the swimming, diving and synchronised swimming championships in May and the open water events in June, the Hungarian swimming association told MTI.

“Budapest is a sports-loving city and Hungary is a sports-loving nation, which they have proved by organising several excellent events. We maintain continuous and high-level cooperation with the Hungarian association, such as in the case of the junior European swimming championship currently held in Hodmezovasarhely,” Barelli said, before opening the envelope containing the name of the host country. “The success of the 2020 European Championships is almost guaranteed as Hungary is hosting the World Aquatic Championships in 2017,” he added.

ESPN – Wonderful video showing Hungary during EURO2016

Nemzetisport.hu shares a stunning video about the Hungarian national football team’s performance at the Euros and especially its effects on the country, made by none other than ESPN, the world famous sports broadcast network.

The two amazing weeks the Hungarian national football team spent at EURO2016 in France brought the nation together, showed that Hungarians can be happy and enthusiastic, and called great attention to the footballers.

It seems Hungary has made a comeback and can participate in significant tournaments again. We all hope that the players will keep up the good work and improve themselves, so the country can express their faith and love for the successful team again and again, while the whole world is watching.

During the team’s performance at the Euros the world press was full of articles and broadcasts about the Hungarians, but even after they got eliminated they did not fade into oblivion. The mighty ESPN has shot documentaries about how the participating teams are rooted for in their own countries.

Thus, their reporter visited Budpest and watched the match against Belgium in the crowd of the Hungarian supporters. The footage also shows the reporter talking to supporters and to a journalist of Nemzeti Sport, with whom he discussed the long journey to the Euros.

He was amazed by the country and the people rooting together, and luckily, still more and more foreigners and Hungarians start to realize what a beautiful country this is, how lovely people can be, and also, that Hungarian football is not a lost case.

Watch the ESPN video HERE.

Copy editor: bm

 

Euro2016 – Many people are rooting for the Hungarian national football team in Uganda

The amazing performance of the Hungarian national football team at EURO2016 is well appreciated in Uganda! The news of the guys’ successes spread rapidly everywhere, especially as many people follow the events of the Euros and pay attention to other teams as well as their nations’ footballers. And Uganda in Africa, not even participating in the game, greatly supports the team and congratulates on their performance, reports globoport.hu.

Football seems to play such a significant role in people’s lives that, when it comes to the European Championship, nations are brought together, and Hungary is no exception of that. The Hungarian footballers trigger more and more attention with their surprisingly astonishing performance, and the people of Hungary are getting really proud, sentimental and patriotic! While the players keep fighting with courage and determination, together, as a team.

Yet, not only Hungarians are happy about the team going forward: people in Kampala, Uganda are sending many messages and they also call the “Hungarian house”, congratulate on scored goals. That is why the Hungarians in Kampala decided to hold a Hungarian EURO2016 day on Wednesday (June 22), when the Dzsudzsák-led team played against Portugal. The Koreans, Ugandans, Kenyans, Rwandans and of course, all of the few Hungarians in Kampala had a fantastic time rooting for the team together.

Their hearts beat as one when they are watching the team of Hungary fighting on the field for the country. The locals of Kampala mentioned that the team seemed to be a big family: the coach was watching closely what his sons were doing, while the audience greatly supported the boys, who would always run over to them, to embrace the happiness together after scoring a goal, instead of playing the somewhat usual self-centred and self-admiring show off that illustrates how awesome they think themselves.

The people gathered in the house were lucky to have witnessed the most exciting match of the Euros so far. Moreover, they did not miss the breath-taking singing and rooting of the Hungarians as if no one else was around in Marseilles: their voices were heard 6000 km afar through the television, without any trace of that stress ahead of the game, without noticing that there were Ronaldo, Nani and all the other guys in the opposing team.

The Hungarians played professionally, attentively, together as comrades, deservedly scoring the goals after one another, causing some real tensions for the Portuguese. And, as we all know, after great fights, the Portugal team could always equalize, but nothing else. Obviously, both teams wanted to win, but it was the Hungarian team that led the scoreboard, challenging the other 11 players on the field. Eventually, the match was a draw, but incredibly Hungary became winner of their group, making it to the knockout stages as the best of their 4.

However, aside topping the board, the footballers managed to win the hearts of those in Kampala, too, and possibly, of many people around the world, but surely in Hungary. Anything that may come from now on would be accompanied by heads up high, proudly and doubtlessly trusting the team to do well. The author concludes her article with highlighting that the footballers showed to every skeptic what true comradery means, sticking together, and that it is good to be Hungarian; and people of Hungary should be proud whenever they meet each other abroad, and greet the fellow patriot happily, every time.

Copy editor: bm

Euro2016 – The successes of the Hungarian footballers positively affect the country’s GDP

24.hu writes that, thanks to the successes of the Hungarian national football team at the 2016 European Championship, there’s a huge boost in the domestic food trade – especially beer and crisps are of top popularity –, the sale of electronic devices, catering, manufacturing sports goods, taking bets and the industries of media, advertising and football have also benefited.

Attila Schillinger, director of the Hungarian Association of Brewers, told 24.hu that in Hungary it’s mainly the hot weather – temperature over 30 degrees Celsius – that results in the increase of drinking beer, yet, he mentioned that the successful participation of the Hungarian national team at the Euros would surely boost it too.

It’s said that companies sell about half of the annual supply of brewers in May, June, July and August. Although, Schillinger reckoned the selling of beers might increase by 2-3% because of the Euros, provided by the great performance of the team and the really hot weather. Also, this year again, beers of premium and economical price category could dominate, while the prices of the moderately expensive ones would decrease.

But it’s not only beer that accompany Hungarians while watching the matches, foods can also be found at the tables of the audience. Several members of the food industry – one of the most important sectors of Hungarian economy, the second biggest employing, and third biggest producing sector– had started to apply wrappings with the team members on them, back in April. And the caterings, pubs, stores, diners and outdoor venues are also winners of the footballers’ successes.

It was rather visible last week when half an hour before the start of the Hungary v. Iceland match the Margaret Island was completely full, so the surrounding smaller shops surely benefited, for before to settling down in the front of the huge screen the spectators purchased everything they needed: beer, wine and snacks mainly. 24.hu even talked to a gyros seller around the venue, whose traffic rose by 1500% after the match ended, and even though they were prepared all of the stock was sold in no time.

Next up, let’s see how people of Hungary actually watch the matches. Among beers, flat TVs are a huge hit; the selling of those was going greatly already in March, and in April the rates showed a 12% increase of sale. Moreover, May brought an even higher increase of further 15%, writes the site, based on the data of Gfk. Besides, according to the latest data, the sales keep up even in June, perhaps not a surprise, as both actual shops and online stores offer discounts and special summer sales.

Then, it should be mentioned how beneficial EURO2016 is for advertisements and media companies: the domestic corporations do take their part of it, as the Hungarian team is highly supported by several firms. Their ads also boost the economy. Furthermore, the event and its afterlife may generate a significant added value in the fields of media and advertising, especially of TV and internet.

Moreover, game retailers and bookies can also make nice profits. The site talked to one of the sports shop networks in Budapest, whose manager was glad to say that so many red jerseys, scarves, wigs and hoots are being sold now as never before. The manager found the customers’ interest similar to what appears around Christmas, so they aren’t afraid of not being able to sell their goods.

Currently, the Hungarian team and football in general seem to be very popular and brands of prestige among Hungarians. Understandably then, János Borhi, CEO of the company operating the Játéksziget shop network, told the site that they forecasted a 100% increase in selling products related to football in May and June.

Therefore, the domestic football industry is also hoped to be seen developing, especially, as the money for purchasing players normally improves the football of the actual country and the clubs may start to buy and train better and better players. Now, Hungary is ahead of Slovakia, but no one else is behind us on this “exchange list”. Hence, showing what he’s capable of on an international level is the only legitimate chance for a Hungarian footballer to become contracted to a foreign team.

The only thing that is sure at the moment is that Hungarians managed to be among the bests after decades again, affecting the people in the country, for example, on a spiritual, economical and political level. The successful participation of the national team has brought the nation together and, on the short run, has measurably influenced the economy. Soon we’ll see what happens on the long run, hoping the players would keep up the good work resulting in several positive effects in their home country.

Photo: MTI

Copy editor: bm

Hungary top group after first round of matches

Portugal and Iceland drew 1-1 in their opening match yesterday evening, which means that Hungary go into their next match on Saturday as group F leaders.

With Hungary having already beaten Austria 2-0 earlier in the evening, the other two teams in Group F, Portugal and Iceland, took to the field later in the late match at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in Saint-Étienne.

It would be Iceland who carved out the first chance, Rui Patrício saving well from a fierce Gylfi Sigurdsson shot, but it was Portugal who dominated proceedings. Creating numerous goalscoring opportunities, Fernando Santos’ side finally took the lead in the 31st minute as Nani swept home an André Gomes cross. Portugal continued to rule the roost thereafter, but failed to find a second goal the all-crucial second goal.

This would come back to bite them, Iceland equalising five minutes into the second half through Birkir Bjarnason who, unmarked at the back post, volleyed home a Johann Gudmundsson cross. Portugal went on to exerted almost relentless pressure on the Iceland rearguard as they pushed for a winner, but it wasn’t to be, the Icelandic defence holding firm as they secured a draw in their first ever match at a major tournament.

The result means that after the first round of matches in Group F, Hungary lead with three points, ahead of Portugal and Iceland on one, and Austria on zero. Hungary’s next match is on Saturday against Iceland at the Stade Vélodrome in Marseille, whilst Austria take on Portugal later that evening at the Parc de Princes in Paris.

Portugal 1-1 Iceland (1-0)

Portugal: Rui Patrício – Vieirinha, Ricardo Carvalho, Pepe, Guerreiro – João Mário (Quaresma 76’), Danilo Pereira, André Gomes (Éder 84’) – Nani, João Moutinho (Renato Sanches 71’), Cristiano Ronaldo. Head coach: Fernando Santos
Iceland: Halldórsson – Saevarsson, Sigurdsson, Árnason, Skúlason – Gudmundsson (E. Bjarnason 90’), Gunnarsson, G. Sigurdsson, B. Bjarnason – Sigthórsson (Finnbogason 80’), Bödvarsson. Head coaches: Lars Lagerbäck & Heimir Hallgrímsson

-MLSZ press release

EURO2016: Hungary’s Kleinheisler was chosen one of the best players of the first round

Nemzetisport.hu reports that, after the Hungarian football team defeated Austria (2-0), one of the players, László Kleinheisler was well appreciated by the UEFA and the French L’Équipe as well.

Tuesday brought an amazing victory for Hungary after more than four decades of waiting, as the national team managed to defeat the Austrians thanks to goals scored by Ádám Szalai and Zoltán Stieber, at the 2016 European Football Championship.

Aside the victory, further acknowledgements were given to the Hungarians, especially to László Kleinheisler, as he was named “Man of the match” by the UEFA (Union of European Football Associations), for he greatly assisted in succeeding the first goal and “[t]here was an intelligence and incisiveness to his play that was vital to producing this result”.

Moreover, the midfielder of Werder Bremen was also chosen among the first round’s Dream Team of L’Équipe. Thus, Kleinheisler’s name was listed alongside players such as Luka Modric, Andrés Iniesta, Jordi Alba and Dimitri Payet. The French daily sports-paper highlighted the goal assist and the three shots on target that was done by the Hungarian player.

Next up for Hungary is the match against Iceland on Saturday, June 18.

Photo: facebook.com/kleinheislerlaszlo

Copy editor: bm

“This is a historical moment, but we need to focus on Iceland”

According to MLSZ press release, Hungary national team coach Bernd Storck attributed his team’s victory over Austria to the hard work put in during the run-up to the tournament.

“I’d like to congratulate my team; today’s victory is the fruit of three weeks’ hard labour” he began. “We played tough matches against Croatia, Ivory Coast and Germany; we wanted to learn from those matches and this is the result of that. The second half performance was fantastic; we scored a wonderful goal through Ádám Szalai and the second goal was a great finish. Ádám always shows a lot in training and this is his payback for the hard work he has put in. Gábor Király became a record-breaker, and he also contributed greatly to the team’s performance in not conceding; I still consider him one of the best goalkeepers in the world”.

“It was perhaps an advantage for us that Austria were considered favourites, but the team really worked hard in the run-up in addition to the qualifiers; this is the basis of our success. László Kleinheisler proved today that he is wonderful player; I don’t understand why he doesn’t play in the Bundesliga. I don’t wish to single out individuals though because the team played fantastically as a unit, and I don’t just mean those who started. We created chances and played well after weathering the early storm. It was important that we nullified the threat of Austria’s key players. I believe that today’s match is a historic moment given that we qualified after 44 years. With this victory we really have exceeded our fans’ wildest expectations; it shows that everything is possible and that we can leave the bad times behind us. I’d like to thank everyone who has contributed to this achievement. We’re already thinking of our second match; from now on Iceland has to be the focus. Our rivals on Saturday played very well in qualification; we now have to advance step by step and build up our tactics against them” he added.

MLSZ press release

Photo: mlsz.hu

Hungary record stunning opening victory!

Second half strikes from Ádám Szalai and Zoltán Stieber gave Hungary a 2-0 victory over old rivals Austria at the Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux as Bernd Storck’s team got off to a dream start in UEFA EURO 2016 Group F.

Austria had begun the more composed, almost taking the lead in the first minute as David Alaba struck the post from 25 yards out. Alaba would try his luck again in the tenth after good work from Marko Arnautovic on the left, but his shot failed to unduly test Gábor Király in the Hungary goal.

Having weathered an early period of Austrian ascendency Hungary slowly but surely grew into the game as the half wore on, Szalai failing to guide his looping header on target following a Balázs Dzsudzsák free kick on the left.

Zlatko Junuzovic tested Király with a firmly struck volley after 35 minutes, but from then on the veteran keeper would have very little to do.

Chances had been few and far between but both sides did squander great opportunities to take the lead before the break as play began to get stretched. First, Martin Harnik lost his footing at the crucial moment, Marko Arnautovic having scampered down the left before unselfishly squaring the ball. At the other end, Dzsudzsák screwed wide after being set up by László Kleinheisler on the counter as the teams went in 0-0 at the break.

Attila Fiola would be the first Hungarian player to truly force Robert Almer into action, the marauding right back’s shot lacking the power to really test the Austrian goalkeeper. The next few minutes play would see Hungary on the back foot but Austria’s final ball lacking quality. Dzsudzsák would break this spell by forcing Almer into a fine save though, the Austrian keeper punching his fierce 30 yard shot over the bar at full stretch for a corner.

Hungary though, broke the deadlock in the 62nd minute, Ádám Szalai controlling a long pass before carving open the Austrian defence with some great interplay with László Kleinheisler, receiving the ball in the box and coolly sliding the ball under Almer to give his side the lead.

gool

Hungary’s chances of victory improved greatly only four minutes after Szalai’s strike, Dragovic picking up a second yellow for a foul on Kádár in the Hungarian box. From then on the game became ever-more stretched, Hungary going forward whenever possible in search of a second, but wary of over-committing too many players unnecessarily into attack.

Krisztián Németh came close to doubling Hungary’s lead just after the seventy minute mark, a fizzing shot seeing Almer scramble across his goal to tip past the post, and with Austria leaving space at the back as they pushed in search of an equaliser there was always the feeling that Hungary were likely to strike again.

The second goal would come in the 87th minute, Hungary momentarily down to ten men as Fiola nursed an ankle injury on the sidelines. Substitute Zoltán Stieber latched on to a raking pass from Tamás Priskin and headed for goal before chipping the ball deftly over Almer and into the net. With a two goal cushion and time running out for Austria, Hungary held firm to record an impressive 2-0 victory which sets them up nicely for their second match against Iceland in Marseille on Saturday.

Austria 0-2 Hungary (0-0)

Austria: Almer – Klein, Dragovic, Hinteregger, Fuchs – Baumgartlinger, Alaba – Harnik (Schöpf 78’), Junuzovic (Sabitzer 60’), Arnautovic – Janko (Okotie 65’)
Hungary: Gábor Király – Attila Fiola, Richárd Guzmics, Ádám Lang, Tamás Kádár – Zoltán Gera, Ádám Nagy – Balázs Dzsudzsák, László Kleinheisler (Zoltán Stieber 80’), Krisztián Németh (Ádám Pintér 89′) – Ádám Szalai (Tamás Priskin 68’)

MLSZ press release

Photo: MTI, mlsz.hu

EURO 2016 – Presenting UEFA’s “Pyjama Man” aka Gábor Király

“Pyjama Man is no laughing matter for Hungary” states the article published by UEFA a few days ago. The Euro2016 introduces players in different articles and this time it was the Hungarian goalkeeper, Gábor Király, who attracted their attention, but not only with his signature baggy trousers.

Király GáborThe article quotes Király: “I’m a goalkeeper, not a top model”. Szeretlekmagyarorszag.hu writes that the journalist finds our goalkeeper’s trousers funny, but they all know that he means much more to Hungarians.

Király celebrated his 40th birthday one and a half months ago. If he will be part of the Hungarian squad on Tuesday’s match against Austria, then he can be the oldest player ever to participate in UEFA European Championships.

Some of Király’s teammates were asked about him. Mihály Korhut thinks that it is very important for a defender to have an experienced goalkeeper behind his back. Richárd Guzmics said that Gábor Király trains like nobody in the younger generations and that he guides everyone from the back efficiently, as somebody with great leadership skills.

Even Bernd Storck praised the goalkeeper: “”I’ve always told him that age doesn’t matter. I don’t care if a player is young or old, if he is good. Gábor is good – he’s outstanding. He is full of confidence and is a goalkeeper with an incredible aura and charisma. He will help us to success at the EURO.”

Photos: www.mlsz.hu, mti

Copy editor: bm

Euro2016 – Hungarian referee will be the main referee of the opening match

Szeretlekmagyarorszag.hu writes that the very first match of the 2016 Football European Championship will be played by the French and Romanian teams, and led by Viktor Kassai, Hungarian referee in the Saint-Denis Stade de France, on Friday.

June 10 is the day of the opening match of the 2016 Football European Champs. The hosting team of France will have to face the players of Romania, and, as it was announced by the UEFA, the Hungarian Viktor Kassai is going to be the main referee of the match.

Just to name a few of the possible milestones of his career, szeretlekmagyarorszag writes that Kassai led the final football match of the Beijing Olympics in 2008, was in charge at qualifiers of the Southern African World Champs in 2010, and also at the finale of the Champions’ League in 2011.

Moreover, the IFFHS (International Federation of Football History and Statistics) chose Kassai as the best referee of the world in 2011. Unfortunately though, at the 2012 European Champs organized by Poland and Ukraine together, he disallowed the co-host’s valid goal at the England-Ukraine match, hence he was not given the opportunity to lead further matches at the Champs.

Assistant referees of Kassai are going to be the Dutch Björn Kuipers and four other Hungarians: György Ring, Vencel Tóth, Tamás Bognár and Ádám Farkas. Also, further announcements by the UEFA, regarding the referees of Saturday, are still to come.

Copy editor: bm

Hungarian success at the European Armwrestling Championship

According to szeretlekmagyarorszag.hu, the Hungarian armwrestling national team won two gold, five silver and eight bronze medals at the European Armwerstling and Para-Armwrestling Championships in Bucharest. This is a great success concerning that we’ll be organising next year’s World Championships.

Seniors won four medals for Hungary: Brigitta Ivánfi finished in second place in the 70 kg category with both left and right hands. It the same category Caroline Thommen won a bronze medal with right hand. In the men’s category of 85 kg Péter Kovács finished in the third place with left hand.

Besides them, Hungarians won medals in the junior, masters and para-armwrestling categories. The two gold medals were won by the visually impaired Miklós Budai, who defeated his opponents with both left and right hands.

armwrestling miklós budai

Moreover, the president of the Hungarian Armwrestling Federation, Attila Csabai was re-elected as the vice-president of the European Armwrestling Federation. “I am satisfied, our participation was successful. Besides this, we had important negotiations regarding the organisation of the Budapest World Championships” said Attila Csabai.

The results of the European Armwrestling Championships 2016:

Seniors: Brigitta Ivánfi 70 kg, Left and Right 2nd place; Caroline Thommen 70 kg, Right 3rd place; Péter Kovács 85 kg, Right 3rd place

Juniors: Henrietta Barzsó U21 -60 kg, Left 3rd place; Adél Polyák U18 +70 kg, Right 2nd place and Left 3rd place; Vivien Kulcs U18 -60 kg, Left 3rd place

Masters: György Szász +100 kg, Right 2nd place; Zsuzsanna Ahmed +80 kg, Right 3rd place

Para-sportsmen: Miklós Budai 70 kg, Left and Right 1st place; Dániel Simon 80 kg, Left 2nd place and Right 3rd place; Imre Hernyák +100 kg, Right 3rd place

armwrestling european champs

Photos: www.facebook.com/WorldArmwrestlingFederationWAF

Copy editor: bm

Hungary topped the medal table of this year’s European Aquatics Championship

VS.hu reports that the 2016 European Aquatics Championship ended on Sunday as the most successful championship for Hungarian swimmers. The last day brought 2 more gold medals, a silver and a bronze, thus, the Hungarian team received all in all 19 medals, of which 10 were gold. Hence, as only the Brits had more medals – 22 of which 7 were gold – Hungary can be seen on the very top of the medal table.

On the last day of the Championship, at women’s 200m butterfly Liliána Szilágyi and Zsuzsa Jakabos could being rooted on. Szilágyi almost won the heat “but Germany’s Franziska Hentke passed her in the last centimetres and won by the tiniest margin possible (0.01 sec)”, writes len.eu. Thus, she was ranked second, while Jakabos became the fourth, 0.23 seconds away from the bronze.

Szilágyi Liliána

After the competition, Szilágyi told M4 that she went through the toughest 3 months of her life, as she actually wanted to give up swimming. But, luckily, she did not, and, in the end, she “competed for herself, for the first time in her life”, which resulted in winning silver at the Championship. She mentioned how happy she was for her result, and did not bother herself because of that 1 second, for the second place already was a great achievement.

Next up was men’s 400m medley, with Dávid Verrasztó and Gergely Gyurta representing Hungary.  According to vs, Verrasztó could not start off very well, however, he became the first to turn for the butterfly leg, while Gyurta was then the fifth. Verrasztó kept increasing his lead, which brought him victory. Gyurta became fourth, while “Slovakia’s Richárd Nagy – coming from the Hungarian minority living there – earned the silver and Italy’s Federico Turrini claimed the bronze”, according to len.eu.

verraszto-david-london-uszoeb

Verrasztó said that he was in great condition and aims to make it to the final in Rio too. For that reason he swam “stronger” in the morning heat, thus practicing the situation. Also, was he not left alone at the end of the heat, he thought he could have finished by a better time than 4:13:15. Anyway, his goal is to get into the final at the Olympics, in the summer.

The finals continued by women’s 400m freestyle, where Boglárka Kapás greatly defeated the other swimmers and won the heat with a huge personal and country best of 4:03:47. This was her fourth gold in London and, as len.eu put it: she “added the 10th gold to the nation’s tally, achieving the long-distance hat-trick for the first time at the Europeans by winning the 400m, 800m and 1500m free at the same meet”.

Kapás Boglárka

Then, the 2016 European Aquatics Championship in London was finished by men’s 4x100m medley. The Hungarian team consisted of Gábor Balog, Gábor Financsek, László Cseh and Richárd Bohus, who qualified themselves into the final with the third best time. After the first, backstroke leg Financsek could start from the sixth position but ended up eighth.

However, Cseh could change it, at the end of his leg the Hungarians were already second. Bohus swam well, too, and arrived as third. Eventually then, the Brits won the heat and they were followed by the French, and the Hungarians were the third to step on the podium by winning the bronze with a time of 3:34:12.

uszo-eb-ferfi-vegyes-valto

Krisztián Takács should also be mentioned, as it was the first time in his career that he competed in men’s 50m freestyle at a long-course European Championship. He started off well and ended up as sixth, the winner was the French Florent Manaudou, who is actually the Olympic and World Champion of 50m free.

Photos: MTI, facebook.com/uszoszovetseg

uszo-eb-london-eremtabla

Copy editor: bm

The Hungarian swimmers keep winning medals in London

Szeretlekmagyarorszag.hu and index.hu report the latest successes of Hungarian swimmers at the European Championship in London. Boglárka Kapás, Katinka Hosszú, László Cseh and the women’s free relay team won gold medals. Hosszú also won a silver just like Richárd Buhos, while Tamás Kenderesi got hold of a bronze.

The 4th day (May 19) of this year’s European Aquatics Championship, held in London, brought victories for the Hungarian swimmers. The first one to be on top of the podium was Boglárka Kapás, who got into the 800m freestyle final with the best time result, writes szeretlekmagyarorszag. In the final, she was the first to turn at 350m and could keep being ahead of the others.

Eventually, the 23 years old swimmer’s time (8:21.4) was 2.12 seconds better than that of the second, Jazmin Carlin. In an interview Kapás told M4 that she wanted to finish the heat by a better time, but was happy she could do everything she discussed with her coaches and managed to win gold after 4 years again.

Kapás Boglárka

Next up was Katinka Hosszú’s turn at the 200m medley final. Following the butterfly leg, as she turned for backstroke, Hosszú got way ahead of the field and after being almost reached at breaststroke, in the final 50m she outswam the others and won gold ahead of Siobhan-Marie O’Connor with a time of 2:07:3. Evelyn Verrasztó, the other Hungarian competing in the final became 5th and was really happy about it, according to Index.

Right after receiving her well-deserved gold medal for the medley, Hosszú was found in the pool again. She competed in the final of 100m backstroke too, where 2 years ago she shared gold with Mie Oe. Nielsen. This time, even though Hosszú started well, the Danish Nielsen won alone and the Hungarian became 2nd.

Hosszú Katinka

Then came the men’s 200m butterfly final with László Cseh and Tamás Kenderesi. They swam very well, Kenderesi became 3rd and Cseh won with a great time, 1:52.91. As len.eu, the official site of LEN (Ligue Européenne de Natation) put it, “[the] only rival [of Laszlo Cseh, having, perhaps, the best phase of his career] was the virtual red line on the screen, showing the pace of the European record – which he set in the shiny-suit era eight years ago”.

Cseh László

After the heat Cseh said that he was happy about the result but wanted to swim faster, which he could have done if his opponents had pushed him more in the end. Therefore, at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio he aims to swim even better than this time. Following him, Viktor Bromer became 2nd, although Kenderesi almost defeated him: the difference between the two was 0.04 seconds.

Cseh László

Richárd Bohus was the next Hungarian to receive a medal at the European Championship as he got ranked 2nd in the 50m backstroke final. Bohus swam his personal best (24.82) and won silver with it as the victory was claimed by the French world champion, Camille LaCourt, who could top the podium with his 24.77 time.

richard-bohus-london-eb-uszo-hatuszas

Finishing the day the audience could watch the battle in the final of women’s 200m freestyle relay. In the semi-final, the Hungarians qualified themselves to the final with the second best time with Ajna Késely as the finishing member, which position was filled by Hosszú in the final. Half way they were third, as Zsuzsa Jakabos started off well and Verrasztó continued it.

Then, Kapás defeated the others in her leg, so Hosszú could start swimming while leading the field. By the first turn she was ahead of the other swimmers by 1.5 seconds  and according to LEN,“ there was no way back for the others as [she] roared through the homecoming leg, delivering the gold to the Hungarians once more after 2010”.

noi-uszo-gyors-valto-london-eb

No surprise then that the official site of LEN writes that “Hungarian swimmers put together the nation’s best ever single day performance by amassing seven medals in less than two hours, winning four of the seven finals and runners-up by a finger-tip in two others”. Furthermore, they also mention that even though the Brits also had a fine day “the big duel between the Hungarians and the Brits ended up with the visitors’ triumph [that] evening”.

Photos: facebook.com/uszoszovetseg; MTI

Copy editor: bm

LEN European Aquatics in London – Hungarian medals, great successes

Katinka: “I got very tired in the end, but this was part of the strategy – start strong! I’m happy with my time, but at the Olympics this won’t be enough.”

Hosszú wins third European 400m IM crown in London

Hungary’s Katinka Hosszú lit up the opening night of swimming at the London 2016 European Aquatics Championships to win her third consecutive continental 400m Individual Medley gold.

The 27-year old, who is also a three-time 400m IM world champion, ducked under her Championship record effort of 4:30.97 from the heats to take the touch by more than four seconds in 4:30.90.

Great Britain’s Hannah Miley followed her home to kickstart the hosts’ medal campaign with silver in 4:35.27 while Hosszu’s teammate Zsuzsanna Jakabos landed the seventh European medal of her career with bronze in 4:38.39.

But there was no keeping up with Hosszu, who returned to the pool later in the session to qualify third fastest for tomorrow’s 200m Backstroke Final in 2:09.98 behind Ukraine’s Daryna Zevina (2:08.66) and Croatia’s Matea Samardzic (2:09.87).

 

Katinka Hosszú wins her second gold medals, women’s 200 meters back

1. KATINKA HOSSZÚ (Hungary) 2: 07:01 min
2. Darina Zevina (Ukraine) 2: 07:48
3. Matea Samardzic (Croatia) 2: 09:24
4. KATA BURIÁN (Hungary) 2: 10:17

LEN TV – Katinka Hosszú, winner of Women’s 200m


Katinka Hosszu, winner of Women’s 200m… by lentv

Twenty-one year-old KATA BURIÁN main aim was to swim faster than 2:10.60 Olimpic “A” level and she succeeded (2:10:17), which means that she qualified for the Rio Games.

“I’m hurting terribly, but a very big dream come true. I did not expect to go from zero as far as the Rio Olympics in a year.” said Kata.

* * * * *
Earlier the day Hungary (Gábor Balog, Gábor Financsek, Evelyn Verrasztó, Zsuzsanna Jakabos) won bronze medal in 4×100 meter mixed medley relay.

1. Great Britain (Christoph Walker-Hebborn, Adam Peaty, Siobhan-Marie O’Connor, Francesca Halsall) 3:44.56 minutes
2. Italy (Simone Sabbioni, Martina Carraro, Piero Codia, Federica Pellegrini) 3:45.74
3. Hungary (Gábor Balog, Gábor Financsek, Evelyn Verrasztó, Zsuzsanna Jakabos) 3:49.50

* * * * *

In men’s 50 m butterfly László Cseh won silver medal

1. Andriy Govorov (Ukraine) 22.92 seconds
2. László Cseh (Hungary) 23:31
3. Benjamin Proud (Great Britain) 23:34

Photo: MTI

Hungarians are the best tram drivers in Europe – VIDEO

Szeretlekmagyarorszag.hu writes that Eszter Muli and Antal Harsányi defeated 26 teams at the tram drivers’ European Championships in Berlin. It was a tough competition for the Hungarian duo; they were only in the second place before the final round. In the end they came in first place before Kerstin Wermer & Helmut Nitzshke from Leipzig and Ramije Karemani & Jim Kouazan from Lyon. All together duos from 17 countries entered the competition.

Participants had to compete in five different exercises which probably seem quite weird for an everyday viewer. There was finish braking with the forepart of the tram, calibre calculation, finish braking with the second door, attached transportation and “tram-bowling”. Hungarians were able to win thanks to the last exercise.

This is how “tram-bowling” looked like:

By the way, this wasn’t the first time that Hungarians won the competition: the Andrea Lednetzky & Tamás Veperdi duo won the first tram drivers’ European Championships in 2012.

Photo: hu.euronews.com

Copy editor: bm

Beach handball: here is the official logo of Budapest World Championship

According to nemzetisport.hu, the 7th Beach Handball World Championship will be held in the area of the Palatinus Bath on the Margaret Island between July 12 and 18. Men’s and women’s team will also fight for Hungary. The organizing committee has already started the preparation, and in this context, the official logo of the World Championship was presented.

The World Cup will be organised after he European Footbal Championship. It will be a great program for those who love handball and also for those who do not know handball.

The logo of the World Championship displays all of the beauty of beach handball: summer, hot sand, the lightness and the struggles of the sports, but it also shows the most important attractions of Budapest.

beach handball

The Hungarian women’s national team won the European Championship in 2013 and 2015, and finished 2nd in the World Championship in 2013 and 2014. The men’s team would like to get to the podium, after last year’s 4th place, in the European Championship, nemzetisport.hu wrote.

Photo: Strandkézilabda – MKSZ hivatalos oldala Facebook page

Copy editor: bm

UEFA European Futsal Championship – Dróth double not enough to keep Hungary in Euros

Two goals from Zoltán Dróth and a further strike from János Trencsényi exemplified Hungary’s fighting spirit against Ukraine in the crucial second of their UEFA European Futsal Championship group-stage matches tonight, but they weren’t enough to repel an aggressive, counter-attacking opponent which eventually prevailed by a score of six goals to three, the mlsz.hu reported.

Having lost 5-2 to the world’s number one ranked team Spain in the first of their two group matches on Tuesday, Hungary knew they had to at least draw against tonight’s opponents in order to stay in the competition, but the scale of this task became apparent when they went a goal down early on, Dmytro Sorokin seizing posssession in the Hungary area and dispatching the ball confidently into the net. Sito Rivera’s team did well to withstand some Ukraine pressure before exerting some of their own, but Ádám Hosszú’s fierce effort was well dealt with by Ukraine goalkeeper Ivanyak.

According to mlsz.hu, the second Ukraine goal followed, Dmytro Bondar controlling and turning neatly before dinking the ball in, but Hungary struck back almost straightaway, Szabolcs Szeghy setting up Zoltán Dróth for his third goal of the tournament. Thereafter, Hungary had their fair share of possession, although their opponents were fair more aggressive in front of goal, Ukraine have 39 shots (13 on target) to Hungary’s 14 (four on target).

This statistic told in the 25th minute when Denys Ovsyannikov scored after good work by Bondar but Hungary weren’t going to give up just yet. János Rábl hit the woodwork and Hosszú fired wide after an excellent team move as they sought a way back into the game. That lifeline came in the 30th minute courtesy of captain János Trencsényi who was first to a rebound from Dróth’s shot, but less than half a minute later Mykola Grytsyna restored the two-goal lead.

Undeterred, Hungary fought back against and Dróth converted Hosszú’s pass of the same nature (the word ‘hosszú’ means ‘long’ in Hungarian) to reduce arrears once more. Alas, Ukraine again exerted their superiority in an almost instant fashion, Bondar turning in Sehiy Zhurba’s cross and soon after the game was effectively over, Yevgen Valenko tucking away a shot from a corner to make it 6-3 and ensure Ukraine’s (and Spain’s) passage to the knockout stages at the expense of Hungary.