Moldovans gain 20 medals at Taekwondo European Championship

Moldova's Taekwondo team have gained 20 medals at the European Championship in Umag, Croatia: 2 golden, 6 silver and 12 bronze medals. The event was held from May 25 to 30, Info-Prim Neo reports. “We're very satisfied with this result, but we could have had even a better performance,” the Moldovan Taekwondo federation chairman and coach of the national team, Ion Duca, told a news conference on June 2. In the team ranking, Moldova's 8 sportspeople gained position 3. The youngest of them, Grigore Mocreac, is but 13 and got two second positions. Dumitru Lungu (58 kg) and Ion Surlari (68 kg), aged 16 and 17, returned home with two golden medals. Moldova's team left for Croatia on their own, without any assistance from the state, said Nicolae Bolboceanu, a member of the International Taekwondo Federation. “Although it's not for the first time when the Moldovan sportspeople make the national anthem sound at such competitions, they are seldom helped by the state,” Bolboceanu said. The International Taekwondo Federation from Moldova was founded on November 15, 1992, and trains as many as 3,500 sportspeople from this country.