November 4, 2019 – A member of Taekwondo Club Marjan in Split Matea Jelic won the third medal for Croatia at the European Championships, this time in the category of up to 67 kilograms.
T.portal reports that Matea was free in the first round, defeating Russian Karina Zhdanov 14-8 in the second round, and Nadica Bozanic, world junior champion and Olympic junior champion 18-5 in the battle for the medal.
The semifinal of Matea’s category boasted the best of the Taekwondo world, like Nur Tatar, the owner of an incredible ten medals in the last nine years, World and European champion, and the bronze and silver medalist at the London and Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games, Magda Wiet Henin with three world and European medals and two consecutive Grand Prix medals this year and Lauren Williams, two-time European Champion.
It was the British taekwondo athlete Lauren who celebrated against Matea in the semifinal 12-17, which ultimately secured Jelic the bronze medal. It is the second European medal for Jelic after Montreux in 2016. Recall, she has since been dramatically stopped three times in medal fights at world and European championships.
At the World Championships in Muju in 2017, she lost the gold point to Nur Tatar. At the European Championships in 2018, she broke a bone in her arm against Russian Polina Khan in the fight for the medal, and this year in Manchester at the World Championships, she lost at the last second to Brazil’s Titoneli.
The Croatia national team finished their appearance at the European Senior Championships with three medals – silver medals for Lovro Brecic and Toni Kanaet and a bronze for Matea Jelic. On the last day of the competition in Bari, Ivan Sapina, a bronze medalist from the World Champs this year, lost in the first round fight.
Toni Kanaet
Lovre Brecic on the left
To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page.
