European Cadets Championships – Day One Report

Six British athletes competed on the first day of the European Cadets Championships in Athens on Thursday, with some solid performances and impressive wins throughout the day’s action.

Dev Sharma (NTC, -33kg), Josh Sherratt (BTS North, -37kg) and Luis Harrison (Quest Taekwondo) were among those competing in Greece, as well as Rocco Harbisher (Coulby Sport, -45kg), Pameer Kakar (NTC, -49kg) and Jayden Simpson-Kidd (Apex Taekwondo, -53kg).

Josh, Pameer and Jayden all rallied to reach the quarter-finals during the day, while Dev and Luis exited the competition in the Round of 16 after some impressive performances in the early stages.

Rocco agonisingly missed out on victory in the Round of 32 after a last-second score for his opponent, on a day that offered plenty of promise in the Greek capital.

It was Luis who got the British athletes’ action underway in Athens, as he came up against Georgia’s Dachi Bliadze.

The Quest Taekwondo member fought valiantly in the first bout, with the scores neck and neck for much of the encounter, but his adversary kept him at bay throughout the 90 seconds to claim a 13-12 success.

The second clash saw the Brit take control, with two head shots seeing him take a 7-0 lead with 30 seconds left on the clock, before weathering a late flurry from his opponent to take the contest into a decider.

The pair traded blows in the final encounter, with the lead swinging from red to blue, before Luis got the deciding kick in with ten seconds left on the clock to secure his passage into the next round.

Kamil Gulmammadov of Azerbaijan was next up in the Round of 16, and after a scoreless 30 seconds to being, Luis took control once again with some expertly timed attacks to take the first fight 12-8.

Another cagey beginning saw points at a premium at the beginning of Round 2, before a quickfire attack from the Brit saw him establish a 6-2 lead. A flurry of blows from Gulmammadov soon turned the tide in his favour, with nine answered points seeing him take the advantage and seal the second bout 14-11.

With everything to play for in the final fight, it was the Azerbaijani who seized control once again in the early stages, with Luis trailing – but in contention – for much of the 90 seconds.

A dramatic finale saw the Brit draw level with less than five seconds on the clock, with progress into the next round within reach, before his opponent made contact in the dying seconds to take victory out of his grasp. Such are the slender margins in Kyorugi competition.

Jayden came out cool and composed in his first fight of the day, as he despatched of Slovenia’s Matias Koprivnik 14-6,14-2 with a calculated performance, before facing Bulgaria’s Deniz Bedri in the last eight.

With the scores locked at 2-2 late into the first round, the Bulgarian edged in front to claim a 1-0 lead, before a more front-footed approach from Jayden saw him launch a number of precise attacks in the second round.

Leading 8-6 at the midway mark, the Apex Taekwondo athlete pounced to add a further five points to his score in the final stages, setting up a do-or-die encounter for a place in the semi-final.

With the pressure mounting Jayden continued to hold his own, and held a slender advantage with 30 seconds to go, only for his opponent to rally in the final stages to win 19-12.

Josh started his day with a tactical battle against Romanian athlete Leonard Cocirla, with the BTS North member claiming a 7-0 success in in Round 1, before taking the second fight 8-6.

Dawid Ociepa of Poland was up next in the Round of 16, and once again Josh took control, with well-time attacks with both foot and fist seeing him take an early 4-1 advantage.

The two then traded blows back and forth before the Pole took a 12-8 lead with ten seconds left on the clock, only for Josh to show courage and skill to come forward and execute two perfectly-timed attacks to take the first fight 13-12.

With the wind in his sails, Josh came out on the attack in the second fight, with a 9-5 victory securing his place in the last eight.

Up against Greece’s Efstratios Pistikozoglou in the quarter-finals, Josh was edged out by late score to lose 3-1 in the first fight, before another low scoring battle was decided by the intervention of a video replay, which adjudged the Greek to have made contact with a headshot, leading to a 4-1 scoreline.

Pameer also stormed through his first fight of the day as he overcame Maks Ljubi Slovenia 15-3, 12-3, before coming up against Germany’s Giuseppe Crimi in the Round of 16.

His second opponent of the day proved to be a trickier challenge, with the lead ebbing and flowing between the two in a low-scoring contest in Round 1.

A late attack by the German saw him take the first fight 6-5, before the NTC star took control in the second bout, as he established an early 4-0 lead as the pair continued to keep the other at arm’s length.

The attacks became more frequent as time elapsed, with Pameer seizing advantage as his opponent let down his guard, with a 10-7 victory sending the tie into a decider.

With everything on the line, the British Cadet showed great ability to carry on where he left off in the third fight, with a four-point lead established by the midway mark.

The German came back with a flourish to briefly lead 6-4, only for Pameer to level the scores and take the victory on points in the most dramatic of circumstances.

As with Josh, it was a home talent that stopped the British charge in its tracks on Thursday, with Greece’s Filippos Kordas winning 13-0, 15-3 in the quarter-final to head into the semis.

Dev made light work of Cypriot Giorgos Georgiou in the Round of 32, with less than 40 seconds on the clock when he claimed a 12-0 victory in Round 1, before another composed performance saw him ease through with a 15-3 victory.

Yusuf Eren Gultekin of Türkiye proved an altogether harder competitor to overcome, with a 4-1, 6-2 defeat seeing Dev depart the competition at the Round of 16.

Rocco took on Austria’s Dino Alihodzic in his Round of 32 encounter, with the Coulby Sports representative agonisingly missing out on taking the spoils in Round 1.

Leading by two with seconds left on the clock, his opponent made a scoring contact as time ticked away to turn the bout on its head. After drawing level in the second fight, the Austrian edged the third to progress.

All athletes can be extremely proud of their efforts in Greece, they have been a great representation to themselves and their country!