Cordista Jakub Jurka celebrates victory. Illustrative photo.
Facebook of the Czech Fencing Association
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As in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, the Czechs will have two swordsmen at the Tokyo Five-Round Tournament. The flutist Alexander Choupenitch succeeded in the qualification on Saturday.
“It’s a fantasy. I can’t believe it yet,” Jurka told ČTK in a telephone interview. “The competition was so terribly demanding. Such a performance will happen once in a lifetime,” he said.
Fleretist Choupenitch advanced to the Olympics in Tokyo
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Twenty-one-year-old Jurka advanced from the group with four wins and one loss. At the start of the playoffs, he defeated Flavio Giannotte from Luxembourg and in the quarterfinals of the Spanish fencer Yulen Pereira, the 24th sword player of the world. “It was a step towards victory,” Jurka said.
In the semifinals he eliminated Radoslaw Zawrotniak from Poland. “He solved the difficult situation in cold blood three times,” praised the head of the association, Oldřich Kubišta. In the final, Jurek defeated the Swede Jonathan Svensson. “Kuba was on the wave and he believed in himself. The responsibility and proximity of the qualification for the Olympics must have put a lot of pressure on him, but his machine jumped up and managed it brilliantly,” Kubišta said.
After the victorious intervention, tears welled up in Jurek’s joy. “Emotions could not be sustained. It is a sensation for Czech fencing,” rejoiced the swordsman of Olomouc Dukla.
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