Gold medal for Austria at the European Games

Great start for Austrian athletes at the European Games: karateka Bettina Blank won gold for Poland’s ÖOC team in the Kumite up to 50kg category without defeat. The 31-year-old beat Italy’s Erminia Perfetto 1-0 in the final in Bielsko-Biala on Thursday night. She repeated as a gold medalist at the 2019 European Games, and in 2015 won a silver medal at her first European Games.

Exciting semi-finals

“Perfetto,” meaning perfect, was Plank’s record after her fights on Thursday, as she won the title undefeated. The 2019 final was replayed in the semifinals against Turkey’s Serap Ozlik Arapoglu. At that time, Planck won 5-1. The semi-final match was very interesting, because Vorarlberger was 0: 3 behind Ozcilek, made contact 2: 3 shortly before the end and practically at the last second with a score of 5: 3. And in the group stage, the Austrian beat Marita Dipta from Poland 5- 1, Kateryna Krewa of Ukraine 4-1, and Irene Kontu of Cyprus 1-0. She was already sure of the bronze. Now the first ÖOC medal in these title fights shines in gold.

Before arriving in Poland, Plank had a mixed season, but over the past few days she has been preparing for the European Games. In her three preliminary battles, the player also looked very determined.