Roma, March 16-17, 2024
The 7th edition of the NI-KKO ROMA OPEN INTERNATIONAL once again gave rise to a weekend of high Taekwon-Do ITF international level, at the sports hall Palatorrino in Rome, with 583 athletes from 58 schools and 15 nations (1289 entries): Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Finland, France, Georgia, England, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Ukraine, Hungary, USA and Italy.
The event was organized by the ExtremeFighters Team (GM Wim Bos, Master Stefano Minotti, Master Leandro Iagher, Sabum Paolo Gentile and Tiziana Mimmocchi) in cooperation with FITAE-ITF, Italian Taekwon-Do ITF Federation.
We can safely say that this competition is among the best European open events and certainly the largest of its kind in Italy.
On Saturday the competition was for Juniors, Seniors and Veterans categories, on Sunday for Children and Pre Juniors. With the tremendous contribution of 46 referees on 5 squares, the electronic system and the perfect event management by Sabum Mikhail Vorontsov using the Handlesport system, which he himself developed, the competition took place within the scheduled time and without any interruption.
The competition was attended by President FITAE, Master Rachele Fogli, Vice President Master Fabio Iovane, General Secretary Master Luca Maragoni and the Board Member Sabum Mirco Pegoraro. We had the pleasure of receiving multi-titled national and international athletes and personalities of the highest level in the world of ITF Taekwon-Do such as Master Tomaz Barada, Master Oleg Solovey, Master John McIlvaney, Master Johan De Silva, Master Lylian Douley, as well as our national coaches, Masters Cammarota, Saccomanno, De Lucia and Oriolani, to numerous FITAE Masters and the Italian national team athletes in preparation for the AETF European Championship in Poland in April.
We have also started a collaboration with the company TKD Tekkers which filmed some actions and took photos which will be made available.
The visit and collaboration with Sabum Hellu Hanhikangas (Finland), who spent many years working in Fitae during her stay in Italy, and Mr Maurizio Massatani, first president of Fitae, were highly appreciated.
The two-day competition formula was highly welcomed, as was the possibility of fighting in two weight categories (only for Juniors and Seniors) and also the introduction of pattern and sparring team events. For the next edition we have in mind some new proposals to introduce into the competition rules.
The atmosphere was joyful and relaxed, the participants happy to be at the center of an important international event and there were plenty of emotion vibes in meeting friends after a long time. The medalists have been proud of the result achieved and also of the beautiful medal depicting the Colosseum and the Wolf with the twins Romulus and Remus in the “kicking” version.
All results are published on the HANDLESPORT platform.
OVERALL CLUB CHAMPION ranking (all categories):
- ASD CREW FIGHTERS – ITALY
- SAA – UKRAINE
- EXTREMEFIGHTERS – ITALY
OVERALL CLUB CHAMPION ranking (Juniors and Seniors) - ASD CREW FIGHTERS – ITALY
- SOLOVEY TEAM – UKRAINE
- ASD ADELANTE – ITALY
OVERALL CLUB CHAMPION Ranking (Children and Cadets) - PHOENIX – UKRAINE
- SAA – UKRAINE
- EXTREMEFIGHTERS – ITALY
Heartfelt thanks to the company NI-KKO SPORT, sponsor of the event, which allows us to perform at our best, to the Palatorrino staff in close collaboration with the organization, and again to all the Italian and foreign referees, true protagonists of all the events, which guaranteed the smooth and correct running of the event and to all the Presidents of the clubs who chose to take part in our event.
We look forward to seeing many of our friends at the next edition, always in the second half of March, and always with a lot of enthusiasm and desire to share our passion.
Taekwon!
ExtremeFighters Team and FITAE-ITF