Balkan Open Cup 2025 — a powerful end of the season for Ukraine!
On 22–23 November 2025, the "Balkan Open Cup" international Taekwon-Do tournament took place in Novi Sad (Serbia).
689 athletes from 17 European countries took part in the competition.
This tournament is a ranking event for black belt holders (seniors, juniors, pre-juniors) and contributes to the ranking for the 2026 European Championships, which will take place in late spring in Maribor, Slovenia.
Overall medal standings — TOP 5 countries
1️⃣ Romania — 41 🥇 / 39 🥈 / 50 🥉 (130)
2️⃣ Hungary — 14 🥇 / 8 🥈 / 9 🥉 (31)
3️⃣ Israel — 14 🥇 / 6 🥈 / 14 🥉 (34)
4️⃣ Ukraine — 13 🥇 / 10 🥈 / 14 🥉 (37)
5️⃣ Slovenia — 10 🥇 / 8 🥈 / 17 🥉 (35)
🇺🇦 Ukraine in the European TOP 5 — a consistently high level, strong performances, fierce competition in every category.
🇺🇦 Ukrainian teams
• "Solovey Team" sports club of the Ivano-Frankivsk Children and Youth Sports School No. 1 of the Regional Council — 8 athletes + 1 coach
• Combined team of the All-Ukrainian Taekwon-Do Union — 45 athletes
🥇 Results of "Solovey Team" — 6 gold and 1 silver!
Our athletes delivered one of their best performances of the season.
Gold:
• Iryna Mukha — sparring, -50 kg, seniors
• Daryna Korolovych — sparring, -60 kg, seniors
• Denys Lypovetskyi — sparring, -63 kg, seniors
• Artem Haienko — sparring, -69 kg, seniors
• Iryna Nahorna — sparring, -49 kg, juniors
• Zakharii Zubyk — sparring, -65 kg, juniors
Zakharii fought 5 extremely tough bouts on his way to gold!
Silver:
• Iryna Mukha — patterns, seniors
Club standings — TOP 10 teams
1️⃣ Romanian Taekwon-Do ITF Federation (ROU) — 41/39/50 (130)
2️⃣ The Israel Taekwon-Do Center (ISR) — 13/3/12 (28)
3️⃣ Slovenia Team (SLO) — 10/8/17 (35)
4️⃣ SASOK (HUN) — 9/5/6 (20)
5️⃣ All-Ukrainian Taekwon-Do Union (UKR) — 7/9/14 (30)
6️⃣ SOLOVEY TEAM (UKR) — 6/1/0 (7) 💪
7️⃣ Central Police Taekwon-Do Club (BUL) — 5/6/29 (40)
8️⃣ Tornado Team (BIH) — 5/4/5 (14)
9️⃣ TKD Spirit Association (HUN) — 5/1/3 (9)
🔟 ARTF MFT (AIN) — 3/3/6 (12)
"Solovey Team" — 6th place!
A high achievement for a squad of 8 athletes.
The competition impressed with:
✔️ high-quality organisation
✔️ a friendly atmosphere
✔️ strong competition among black belts (seniors, juniors, pre-juniors)
Glory to the AFU!
We are immensely grateful to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, who enable our athletes to represent the country on the international stage and achieve victories.
