2017

On June 3, the international children-youth sports games “Baltic Tiger 2017” took place in the Riga National Sports Arena.

The tournament was organized by the Latvian Taekwondo Federation (ITF) with the support of the Department of Education, Culture and Sports of Riga City Council.

The opening ceremony of the international children-youth games “Baltic Tiger 2017” was attended by Yefimijs Klementjevs, Deputy Chairman of the Department of Education, Culture and Sports of Riga City Council, and Olegs Sidorchuks, head of the Latvian Martial Arts Union.

The tournament is held 5 times already, and it has become a sporting tradition for both foreign guests and athletes, as well as domestic sports clubs and visitors. The event attracts more and more new supporters of a healthy lifestyle and sports, enthusiasts every year. “Baltic Tiger” was held for the first time in 2013 as part of the Taekwon-do tournament “Riga Amber Cup”, but over the years its popularity and attendance has grown so much that it is now held separately. This year, the tournament was able to unite athletes aged 5-15 years and from such countries as – Great Britain (England), Estonia and Latvia. A total of 162 participants from 10 sports clubs took part in the tournament, who competed in their skills in such disciplines as – technical complex exercises at TUL, free sparring duel, gladiator fight and exciting team relay.

The organizer of “Baltic Tiger” and the president of the Latvian Taekwon-do Federation – master, Vyacheslavs Semenkovs (7 Dan) believes that the involvement of the new generation in sports and practicing an active lifestyle is very relevant today, and this type of sports festival and tournaments for children and young people are a good opportunity to focus on sports, as well as to develop together with peers by actively moving. Along with the traditional Taekwon-do ITF competitions, attractive gladiatorial fights and team relays are organized, which create an opportunity for a wider range of interested people to start their sporting career even without serious previous experience.

The sports club “LTCS” from Riga (coaches Vyacheslavs Semenkovs, Armands Shlars, Sharmena Lukashevicha) won the 1st place in the team ranking of the international Taekwon-do ITF tournament “Baltic Tiger 2017” with 39 medals won. The second place with 33 medals was won by a team of athletes from Tallinn, but the 3rd place was won by the local club from Ikšķila – “SONKAL” (coach Maris Sudzans).

All participants of the tournament received tasty gifts. All participants of the tournament received tasty gifts. Many thanks to all participants, organizers and supporters!

Special thanks to the sponsors for the gifts – the companies “MIKAS M”, “MEGO” and “ELPIS”, as well as from the security company “Delta apsardze”.

Many thanks to the supporters of the competition: Riga City Council and the Latvian Taekwon-do Federation.