Triumph for the Greek colors in jumpinh and dressage!

Markopoulo, September 11, 2023

Press release

With triumph and confirmation of supremacy for the Greek colors, the Balkan Equestrian Championship ended with great success last night at the Olympic Equestrian Center in Markopoulo. In Show Jumping Greece won 7 out of 10 gold medals in total and in Dressage 5 out of 6 gold medals.

In Jumping, in the Senior Category, three Greek athletes climbed the three steps of the podium. Balkan champion was Alexandros Fourlis with Idefix del Laghetto with 0 penalty points on all three days and the best ranking yesterday. Second Balkan winner was Kriton Zafeiropoulos with Dicaprio also with 0 points over the three days and third Balkan winner was Dimitris Natsis with Cresco also with 0 points.

Greece also won a gold medal in the team event of the Senior Category with the athletes Kaiti Laskaridis with Hilada, Ilias Baliousis with Casper D'argouges, Dimitris Natsis with Cresco and Kriton Zafeiropoulos with Dicaprio. In 2nd place was Turkey and in 3rd place was the Romanian team.

In the Young Riders category, Greece won another gold medal in the Individual Competition. Constantinos Baliousis and Merlot van de Lichtekouter were the Balkan champions with 4 points in the three rounds and the best ranking yesterday on the last day. In 2nd and 3rd place were two Romanian athletes, Catalina Sfetea with Caldera and Sofia Semenov with Quasar. In the team category, the Greek team won the bronze medal with the athletes Konstantinos Baliousi with Merlot van de Lichtekouter, Artemis Pitsikou with Venice, Giorgos Meimaridis with Carpe Diem and Maria Anna Gounela with For Conty. Golden Balkan champion was the team of Turkey and second was the team of Romania.

Greece won two individual and team gold medals in the Amazon category. In the individual competition, Anna Levi and Origi Vitseroel won the Balkan gold medal with the fewest penalty points 4 over the three days. Second was the Turkish Azra Ozturk with El Gore Go with 8 points and third was the Romanian Ramona Bucur with Cupido G. In the Team the four Greeks Anna Levi with Origi Vitseroel, Sasa Hatziprimou with Cendrasine, Afroditi Glyki with Copyright and Mariansi Kyriakopoulou with Veneur de st Hubert climbed to the highest step of the podium. Second was the Romanian team and third was the Turkish team.

Greece also achieved 2 gold medals in the Children's category. Our team athletes Loukas Baliousis with Uidgi, Semeli Laiou with Korfenia, Emmalia Oikonomopoulos with Goldstar and Vasiliki Baliousi with Golden Girl took the gold medal. Second was the Romanian team and third was the Bulgarian team. In the Individual event Balkan champion was Loukas Baliousis with Uidji with 0 points in the three rounds and the best ranking on the last day. Bronze Balkan winner was Semeli Laiou with Korfenia with also 0 points in the three rounds and in 2nd place was the Bulgarian Stoyko Manavski with Charodey.

In the Junior Category the Greek team won the silver medal in the team event thanks to our four athletes, Maria Kavalari with Sunny, Annie Nomikou with Rushdie, Georgia Sklavenitis with Magico and Semeli Popp with Cash de la Hart. First was the Romanian team and third was the Bulgarian team.

We also had a triumph in Dressage, especially in the two categories of Children and Juniors. In the Junior Category, Greece won both the team event and all three medals in the individual event. Golden Balkan champion was Christina Retsou with Elise with a percentage of 70.9 in the freestyle event. Second was Izabela Atchalaki with Desteny with a percentage of 70.425% and third was Ilenia Oikonomou with King Black with a percentage of 67.458%. In the Team competition, Greece with Christina Retsou with Elise, Izabela Atchalaki with Desteny, Ilenia Oikonomou with King Black and Eleni Barbati with Forever Dancing were first with Bulgaria second and Romania third.

And in the Children's Category, the Greek athletes did their best. In the Team Competition, our children Korina Meimari with Auke, Danae Giannopoulou with White Man, Danae Papapolyzou with Guidany and Malvina Nikolaidis with Biebossen Dandy Lion won the gold medal. In 2nd place was Bulgaria and third was the Turkish team. In the Individual event, Athena Bikakis with Zoie won gold with a percentage of 71.5%. Second was Daria Cholakova from Bulgaria with Lovelyn with a percentage of 69.91 and third was Veneta Savova with Henzo with a percentage of 69.22%.

 

In the Young Riders category, the golden Balkan champion was Maria Eleni Turkomani with Seine Tosca who had a percentage of 63.37 in the freestyle competition second was the Romanian Catalina Sfetea with Fortuna with a percentage of 56.16%

In the Senior Category silver Balkan champion was Christina Sahinoglou with Damor with a percentage of 75.95% in freestyle. The first Balkan winner was the Romanian Daria Maria Paliciuc with Everton with a percentage of 72.37% and the third was the Bulgarian Valentin Dzhavelkov with Dias with a percentage of 69.04%.

 

The next Balkan Championships, after the decision of the Balkan Conference on Saturday, 9/9, will be held in Istanbul for both sports, show jumping and dressage, September 5-8, 2024.