Almost 1,400 kick-boxers from 70 nations will take to the tatami mats and enter the ring at the world competition from Monday to Saturday. The Hungarian colors are represented by 45, including three of our athletes who won gold medals at the recently held World Martial Arts Games. Péter Galambos, the Hungarian President of the Kick-boxing Association.
In all seven rules of kick-boxing – pointfighting, light-contact, kick-light, form practice, full-contact, low-kick and K1 – world champions are inaugurated at the World Cup in Albufeira in the adult and veteran age groups.
The Hungarian national team traveled to Portugal in a strong formation. The team includes several former world champions, and among our starters are Bence Zajácz, Lajos Féső and Andrea Busa, who won a gold medal at the World Wrestling Games held at the end of October, and Martin Bálint, who finished first at the European Games in June. The team is missing Anna Kondár, the world’s most successful female kickboxing competitor with ten world championship titles, who was unable to keep up with her teammates due to an injury she suffered at the World Martial Arts Games.
The preparation went well, everyone was motivated – shared Péter Galambos, the president of MKBSZ, who called the Hungarian delegation “a team full of opportunities”.
“Unfortunately, with Panni’s elimination, there was one less chance, but I still consider the national team to be strong, as many of our world class players will compete in the World Cup. In addition to our athletes who won gold medals at this year’s multisport events, among our tatami competitors Gergő Száraz, Emánuel Szmolek, Nikolett Mezei and Laura Fanni Kovács are also measuring themselves as world or European champions. In fitness, Zoltán Brebovszky and Cintia Halustyik already have several World Cup and European medals, and in the ring there will be Cintia Czégény, who won a bronze medal at this year’s European Games, and Viktória Pálfi, fifth at last year’s World Games, from the Hungarian team. With their results and experience, they can go to the World Cup with confidence, but we also have many newcomers who are hungry for success. In addition to them, of course, I have high expectations for those team members who have not yet managed to come close to a European Championship medal. They are now standing at the gate of success, I trust that many will take advantage of the opportunity” – stressed the sports leader.
At the same time, the number of participants, which is a record for the participating countries, makes it more difficult than before to win a medal.
“The pool of riders around the world is constantly developing, and more and more people may feel that the time has come to try themselves at a world championship” Péter Galambos thought. – “And surely one of the reasons is that kick-boxing has been included in the programs of more and more large multi-sport events in recent years, and this is also quite a motivating factor for the sport. At the same time, this also means that the World Cup will be very strong, and nothing will be given away for free.”
At the World Cup, competitions are held for veterans as well as for adults. It is interesting that Péter Csikós, the head of the pointfighting national team, and Dezső Debreczeni, the former seven-time individual world champion, will also fight here.
The world kick-boxing association, WAKO, is also holding a congress, where István Király, the organization’s Hungarian vice-president, is applying for an extension of his post.
