Cadets Day Two

Competition was fierce on Day Two of the 2025 European Cadets Championship, with seven more British athletes taking to the mats in Athens.

Friday’s offering saw an all-female team compete in Greece, with Gabby Pettigrew (Core Taekwondo Academy, -29kg), Nyah Cannon (NTC, -33kg), Lily Hardy (Ultimate Taekwondo, -37kg) and Betsy Walker (Quest, -41kg) among those competing.

Ikrah Hussain (Apex Taekwondo, -44kg), Elizabeth Adamsons (Scorpion Taekwondo, -47kg) and Namyaa Singhal (Peak Performance, -51kg) were all also on the mats in the second day of action, with some key victories achieved throughout the day.

Gabby eased her way through her Round of 16 tie in Athens as she overcame Cypriot athlete Eliana Michael 12-0, 12-0, with neither fight lasting longer than 20 seconds.

Mariia Lolenko – who was competing as an Individual Neutral Athlete – was her next opponent in the quarter-finals, but despite giving her best, the Core Taekwondo Academy athlete couldn’t make it past the last eight.

Nyah faced off against Serbia’s Dunja Avric in the Round of 16, having benefited from a free draw at the start of the competition.

That freshness saw her come steaming out of the blocks after lunch, with a 15-3 victory wrapped up with 15 seconds to spare in Round 1, as she took the fight to her opponent with a constant assault of speed and skill.

The Serb became the aggressor in Round 2 and took a three-point lead after 30 seconds, before a fantastic spin kick to the head saw Nyah turn a 5-4 deficit into a 9-5 advantage.

As the scoring shots continued to land, it looked as if the Brit had done enough to go through to the next round, only for a video replay on the buzzer giving her opponent three points that made all the difference. 14-13 Serbia.

Into the decider, and once again it was all to play for, with both competitors making crucial contacts to keep the scoreboard ticking over, with Nyah leading 14-12 with 30 seconds left to play.

Headshot Nyah. 17-12. Headshot Dunja. 17-15. Seconds ticking away.

Another headshot from Dunja. 18-17. Nyah needed to draw on all her experience to get the decisive blow in before the end, and with a flick of her foot to the body, she sealed a nail-biting win with seconds left on the clock.

A second video replay as time elapsed made for a nervy ending, but with no points awarded to her opponent, she was safely through to the quarter-finals.

Antonia Toli stood between Nyah and a place in the semi-finals, and the Greek star proved to be on top form in front of her home crowd, with a 3-2 victory in the first round putting her into the lead.

Another low-scoring affair followed as the pair cautiously approached the last eight clash, before a clinical headshot gave Antonia the upper hand, as she clinched the second 8-5.

Elizabeth came up against Croatian athlete Vedrana Karol Bulaja in the Round of 32, having been given a free draw in the Round of 64 earlier in the day.

The Scorpion Taekwondo star took her time to weigh up her opponent in her opening fight, with the scores locked at eight points apiece after one minute of action.

As the attacks came thick and fast in the final seconds, the Brit connected with the decisive blow to the body to seal an 11-10 win in Round 1.

The tables were turned soon after as the second round went the way of the Croat by a score of 7-1, but Elizabeth wasn’t to be deterred, as she put herself in a great position in Round 3 with an early headshot, giving her a four-point lead at halfway.

From there, it was a case of protecting that lead, and the Yorkshire-based star managed to do exactly that, with her path to the Round of 16 secured with a 5-4 win.

The next round saw her take on Emma Kreshpa of Albania, and while both rounds her tight affairs, Elizabeth just couldn’t find the decisive scores, as she went down 6-3, 6-4.

Lily got her day underway with a Round of 32 encounter with Bulgaria’s Simona Skrobanska, with both athletes giving as good as they got in their initial attacks.

The Brit had racked up ten points within the opening 15 seconds as she became the aggressor throughout, while her opponent countered with well-timed kicks of her own to keep within touching distance.

Despite a late video replay call, Lily held on to take Round 1 19-17, before rushing into an early lead once again in Round 2, with a 7-1 scoreline at the midway mark emphasising her superiority.

The Bulgarian rallied to break down Lily’s defences in the second-half of the fight though, with 12 straight points seeing her send the clash into a decider.

The third and final round was a much cagier affair, with neither athlete giving an inch to their opponent. Red and blue locked together, before Lily edged herself in front by three with 30 seconds remaining.

That lead soon became five, then seven, and then nine as she exploited the gaps in her opponents’ guard, with a 16-10 victory wrapped up as she made her way into the last 16.

Enea Brunet stood in her way in the next round, with the French athlete proving to be another stern competitor as they traded blows throughout the first half of their initial encounter.

Six points apiece with 30 seconds left, blows to the body and head saw Lily fall five points adrift in the final stages, before eventually going down 15-10.

The second battle between the pair followed a similar pattern, with Lily constantly attacking her opponent but failing to find the crucial scoring contacts, with a 16-9 score in Round 2 seeing her exit the competition.

The -44kg competition’s fifth seed Ikrah came up against Czechia’s Vanesa Vrboba in the Round of 16 after receiving a bye through the early stages, but was left frustrated by a 6-0 scoreline in the pair’s first battle, with her opponent’s height and reach helping her keep the Apex Taekwondo athlete at bay.

A tactical battle ensued in the second bout, with neither player managing to get on the scoreboard until the video replay deemed the Czech athlete to have registered a headshot 37 seconds in.

That score sparked both players into life, with Ikrah twice managing to breach her opponent’s defences to earn a 6-5 lead, before being caught once more to trail by two. Despite giving her all, the Manchester-based star was unable to claw back the deficit, eventually going down 11-9.

Namyaa was first to take to the mats on Friday, with the Peak Performance athlete facing off against Ivona Jerkovic of Croatia in the Round of 32.

A 6-3 loss in Round 1 was swiftly followed up by a battling performance in the Round 2, as she rallied from 9-5 down with ten unanswered points to force herself into the lead with 30 seconds to play.

A commanding display with expertly timed attacks looked to have been enough to draw herself level in the tie, only to be caught by a later flurry from her opponent with seconds remaining, leading to an agonising 16-15 defeat.

Betsy also faced a Croat in the form of Dobrila Sisko, with the Quest Taekwondo athlete falling behind early in Round 1, with a 14-2 scoreline bringing the first fight to a premature end.

Despite constantly trying to break down her opponent’s defences, the decisive contacts proved to be elusive, with the second fight also going the other way, this time by 11-2.