Ivkovic achieved the victory at the 307th Alka after a double pinning, collecting nine winning points. He was the winner of the jubilee 300th Alka in 2015, and he also took the prize-winning flame to the 304th Sinjska Alka in 2019.
In the first race of the Alkar competition, 17 Alkar spearmen hit only 19 shots, and only Ivo Zorica was above average with a shot in the smallest circle.
The town band of Sinj, which is celebrating its 160th anniversary this year, played more often in the second race, in which Mihovil Zupa, Kristijan Bikic, Frano IvkoviC and Frano Talaja scored three points each.
After Bara and Coja, the rematch also happened at Alka, where Alkars with six points each fought to the end – Bikic, Zorica and IvkoviC. Bikic missed in the first round, Zorica and Ivkovic each won a pin, and Ivkovic secured the title with a “two” shot in the second round.
Mario Susnjara, the Duke of Alkar, tied a flame to the spear of the winner as a sign of victory at the 307th gathering.
The Duke of Alkar, newly elected by the Assembly of the Knights of Alkar in April, said that since the magnificent victories of the people of Sinj over the Turks in 1715 and the Homeland War in 1991, a lot had happened, highlighting Croatia’s entry into NATO and the European Union and the connection between the north and the south by the Peljesac Bridge.
He warned, however, about the emigration of the population. “There are fewer of us. Slavonia, Lika and Krbava, Primorje and Dalmatia remain desolate. Young people are leaving and building other countries,” he said, warning that all our achievements will be in vain if we are left without people.
He called on all citizens, especially politicians, businessmen and scientists, to join forces, do their best and stop negative demographic trends.
The President of the Republic of Croatia, Zoran Milanovic, who is Alka’s patron, at the end of the competition, wished the winner whom he presented as a gift, to win in the future.
Alka was accompanied by the state leadership, but also at the invitation of President Milanovic, Slovenian President Borut Pahor, which is the first time that a president of another country has come to Alka.
Original article in Croatian here.
