SARAJEVO - This year's European Kata Championship took place in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina on June 10 and 11, after the European Championship for Veterans.
Two Belgian kata couples, Nicolas and Jean-Phillipe Gilon, and Yvan Barnich-Dimitri Closset, both in katame-no-kata, competed at this European Championship.
Yvan Barnich and Dimitri Closset finished fifth out of 15 participants in their prelim of the katame no kata competition. Nicolas Gilon and Jean-Phillipe Gilon finished first in their prelim also with 15 couples. The next day, they came first again in the final and thus crowned themselves European Katame no kata Champions. Judo Belgium has another title on its list of honor!
Four Belgian kata judges were appointed by the EJU to judge, namely Dirk De Maerteleire, Dominique Janssens, Vincent Mottet and Michel Pongoli, along with EJU/IJF kata-IT contributor Dimitri Nemegaire.
