EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP and International Cup 2009 (Brussels)
European Championship
The last weekend of June saw the capital of Europe being stormed by teams of bodybuilders coming from every corner of the globe. They were all up for it, to show everyone that the past year has been favourable for development and progress. Even though the more “senior” athletes wouldn’t give over their place for nothing, the new generation was determined to win and ultimately did have the audacity to dethrone the old timers.
This year, it was decided not to do prejudging, which allowed for each athlete to perform only once, and the committee showed a strong cohesion and professionalism throughout the show. Everything went according to plan, and there is no doubt, really, that WABBA is a team that runs smoothly.
This year, the Juniors were first to perform. A change of regulations was good for the category as the level was more than excellent. Hungary took first place… Laszlo Hari was miles above the rest. Really massive, really dry with a fantastic line, he finished ahead of the Portuguese Joao Campos and the Greek Panteleimon Stavroulakis, no contest.
Right after the parade of the Miss Shape category in evening dresses, the Middle size class invaded the stage, literally, as there were so many they filled up the whole stage. They each had to struggle to stand out from the crowd and show off their best assets to the judges. But the Czech Tomas Bures didn’t have to overdo it… massive and dry on his upper body as well as on the lower part, he quickly put everyone in the shade and reached the highest step of the podium ahead of Italian William Fabri and the Swiss Sergio Pestana.
After having shown their best assets, the Miss Shape contestants came back in bikinis for their second comparison. It’s always a great pleasure to admire such graceful and toned feminine physiques… truly perfect bodies! And in the poetic justice of this enchanting world, the new Miss on the block won: French Sylvie Chavot. In her first year of competition at this level, she proved that top quality doesn’t necessarily have to come with the greater number of years. She took on the Italian Silvia Cecchinato and Lithuanian Elliete Lukyte in style. Great win Sylvie. We do hope there are many more to come for you!!
The most difficult category to judge this year was without any doubt the Bodyfitness Men. There were so many athletes in this class they swamped the place, each doing his level best to harmonise muscle mass, definition and a balanced line. The Italian Alan Baroncini had exceptional lines but the first place was eventually taken by his compatriot Pierpaolo Belich. Running close behind their fierce battle for the first place was another tough fight: with just a few extra points the Swiss Thomas Buser took third place ahead of the Belgian Eric Kafindo. At every level, it was a struggle to see who could show himself to his best advantage. Our congratulations go to the whole category; great battles to witness up there on stage!!
The Masters category is always a great occasion to see accomplished and experienced athletes, and again we saw an excellent line-up. Combining mass and definition in (almost) perfect harmony, it was the Swiss Frank Muller that brought everyone to agreement. With a short lead he ultimately had the advantage over Reunionese Pierre Payet, even though Pierre was evidently super motivated. Behind them, in third place, came Italian Costantino di Fraia to wrap up the Masters podium.
ategory, which although quite new sees more and more competitors every year, also proved to us that despite the years you can remain an impressive athlete in great shape: the Supermasters, or Over 50’s. I can assure you that they certainly don’t look their age! Here it was the Spanish Antonio Lucas that won convincingly; behind him it was a tough battle between the Swiss Peter Maierhofer and the Mauritanian Mario Lily. This was really close but the Swiss eventually forged ahead to take second place. Antonio, by the way, if you keep this up you could well be World Champion in Hungary… consider the gauntlet thrown!
We had feared, with the arrival of the Bodyfitness Men category, the disappearance of the Fitness category… but it was not so! There are still plenty of guys who enjoy doing the show and prepared some amazing routines. In this sense, the gymnastics of the Mexicans was fabulous. Congratulations to Eber Hisi Mendez and Edgar Julian Gonzales for their performances. However, it was between Hungarian Jozsef Kremer and the Portuguese Rui Miguel Ferreira that the judges hesitated. Eventually the perfect body of the Portuguese won to became the Fitness European Champion! German Markus Krener climbed onto the third step of the podium.
Slightly more muscular than the Miss Shape but just as feminine, the Miss Fitness delighted us with their great bods and performances. It was very difficult to decide between the first two: Hungarian Andrea Legradi and the Swiss Maude-odile Petrucci. It was a close fight indeed and one always has to finally bow down in front of the judges, this time it was somewhat regrettable… you deserved more Maude-odile!! Runner-up European Champion is still a good job though and, knowing you, you are not going to stop at that either!! We are all looking forward to your revenge! Greece got the third place with Kostantina Kaskani.
After that we returned to the world of muscle and mass with the Small size category. Here there was little argument to be had, the judges almost unanimously picked the European Champion, Oscar Alvarez of Spain, ahead of Portuguese Candido Anjo and the Italian Gianfranco Fiume. Nice battle!! Once again the Spanish team imposed again with a winning athlete in this category.
Then came the turn of the Tall category. Impressive as always, it’s usually with them that competitions end. While in some categories new faces won, in the Tall’s the two first were regular athletes who, every year, have persisted and have improved to eventually triumph themselves. As with the Small size the judges were all unanimous in their pick for first place, with the title going to the Greek athlete Antonios Kondylis, who had improved in mass as well as in definition and had a superb line on top of that! He finished ahead of the Italian Mirco Benetti, who has also improved a lot, and the massive Lithuanian Mantas Karalevicius. The French Guillaume Petit, really very complete, imposed his stature on fourth place, ahead of the superb lines of Nariman Safaeian, an Iranian athlete.
The competition finished on a high note with the Overall category and, no surprises here, it was the European Champion Middle size bodybuilder, the Czech Tomas Bures who won the cup.
Enhancing the friendly and respectful atmosphere for the work achieved by the athletes, the contest ended with a nice plate of spaghetti around the table. This was a nice opportunity to meet all the athletes from diverse countries whom share our passion. Each year WABBA welcomes new nations that have the same ideals. This time, it was the Czech Republic and Iran that joined up.
I hope we will be even greater in numbers for the WABBA World Championships, which will take place next November 7 in Hungary. We will be waiting for all you hard workers to come and share our passion for bodybuilding and competition… words for the wise!
Finally, a special note for our English friends: further to the resignation of the English Federation President, this position is now available. If you have a passion for bodybuilding and you love the idea of competition in an atmosphere of enthusiasm and motivation within a professional organisation, please feel free to contact us at www.wabbaworld.com.
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