Playa d'Aro 2008 : First Pictures !

SPAIN – THE BEST TEAM OF THE
2008 EUROPEAN MEN BODYBUILDING CHAMPIONSHIPS MANUAEL MANCHADO WINS 100 KG CATEGORY AND OVERALL TITLE

by Andrew Michalak

Click here to vien complete results in pdf format

Usually sunny Catalonian cost welcomed us with some clouds and moderate temperatures what was blessed by the Championships participants who had to spend all Saturday and most of Sunday in the spacious Palacio de Congresos in Playa d’Aro, running battle for entering the finals first and fighting for medals during the last two rounds in the finals. These Championships brought a new record of participating athletes (137 representing 28 countries); however due to the big number of categories (13 in total) most of them were not “overcrowded” and only in two of them the elimination round was needed.

Annual EBFF Congress, run by the EBFF (and IFBB) President Dr. Rafael Santonja took place on Sunday morning in the Columbus Hotel. Following detailed discussion at the previous Executive Council meetings many small changes in the EBFF Constitution and Rules have been approved by the Congress but this will be discussed in a separate article.

Classic bodybuilding, with its four categories, attracted over 50 athletes. Gold medals went to Spain, Poland and Czech Republics. Miguel Angel Perez, personal trainer from Zaragoza, dominated the shortest class, up to 170 cm, being at the top of the longest line-up of 19 competitors. 2007 continental champion Marcel Hajek dropped to the 5th place, while Konstantin Paskalev moved up from 4th to 2nd position.

Former world junior champion (2001), Czech star Frantisek Huf, who already won bronze medals at the 2007 World and European Championships, reached for the gold in 175 cm class this time. He placed ahead of his team-mate Josef Furin and Croatian physical education teacher Slaven Petrovic, who already tried bodybuilding and men fitness sports.

Spinning instructor Zbynek Ceradsky from the “Muscle Factory” Gym in Breznice won the next gold medal for the Czech Republic in 180 cm category. Zbynek displayed so attractive and quality physique that later he was announced the classic bodybuilding overall winner. Second place winner, Robert Majewski of Poland, just participated in the newcomer contest in Poland in April. Bronze medal went to Braulio Murillo of Spain.

And the tall category, with 12 competitors. Very tough battle between Polish and Spanish champions: Jerzy Pisulski and Christian Perez. Pisulski, policeman from Jawor town, showed perfect body lines and proportions, while Perez, 2007 world runner-up, was extremely hard and defined. The third place finisher, Jiri Wagner, works as an electrical engineer in Trinec, Czech Republic.

Bodybuilding categories were started with the lightest class, up to 65 kg. Bus conductor from Barcelona, Miguel Ramirez, was unbeatable this time, receiving perfect scores in all rounds. Michal Hlinka of Slovakia, who has had a long competitive career, including 2005 European title and two World’s medals, had to accept the 2nd place, ahead of the other experienced bodybuilder, Grzegorz Sochacki of Poland, who repeated bronze medal won last year.

70 kg class also brought a new, internationally unknown champion, Vyacheslav Makogon of Ukraine, who impressed the judges with his muscle mass (69 kg at 163 cm) and separation. Silver medal winner, Aydin Bicen of Turkey, was the best Turkish athlete at these Championships. Bronze medal went to the personal trainer from Barcelona, Spain, Ignacio Valera.

2007 European champion Nokolay Chernetsky of Russia, had no problems to defend his title: he was in shape, with full and quality muscles. Former judo fighter Hamida Ghiles of Spain placed decisively second but the third position was not so clear. Francesco Melis of Italy ran a very close combat against Lee Williams of United Kingdom. Losing the second round by one point he managed to turn the results of this duel, placing higher in the third round and in total.

80 kg division was extremely interesting as there wee many strong pretenders to the title. Most lucky was the 2007 continental champion and computer programist from Moscow, Igor Losev of Russia. Despite the fact he lost the second round to Spanish Oscar Marin 9:7, he won the third round and final classification. Marin repeated his achievement from 2005, when he was also runner-up. Third place was an internal problem of Ukrainian team as two pretenders came from this team: Beila Balog and Sergii Ges. The battle was so close that they were tied in all both final rounds and in total but closer analysis pointed out Balog as the bronze medal winner.

Extremely massive and vigorous on the stage Josep Merino of Spain won all three rounds and gold medal in 85 kg class but the next four athletes desperately fought for the two remaining medals. It seemed that Marian Cambal of Slovakia, 2007 bronze medal winner, would repeat this place but he managed to convince the judges in the 3rd round that he should move up and finally got the 2nd place. Juan Gimenez of Spain who took the 2nd position after the second round failed to keep it and dropped to the 3rd place, being attacked not only by Cambal but also by Sergey Doronichev of Russia and third Spanish player in this category, Carlos Espuelas. The category was so tough that the finalist of the 2007 World Championships, Karol Nitka of Poland, could be only sixth.

90 kg division was not less excited. 2007 silver medal winner in 85 kg class, Vugar Verdiyev of Azerbaijan, moved up to the higher category and it was a good move as he also moved up one place in the classification, winning his first gold medal. 2nd place winner at the recent Arnold Amateur Championships, Pierre Chamoun of Sweden, planned to enter the 80 kg class but was overweight and had to participate in 90 kg category. Still, he looked very well and placed 2nd, mainly due to his impressive posing routine, since the new Ukrainian star Andriy Kukharchuk was better in the 3rd round but kept his 3rd position.

100 kg class was dominated by Elite Tour athlete Manuel Manchado of Spain. He showed the perfect condition and judges didn’t hesitated to give him the 1st place unanimously. Morover, later he won the overall title as well. The silver medal went to Russia, to another greatly gifted bodybuilder Roman Dudushkin from Moscow. I was very impressed by the performance of the 2007 world overall master champion, Anatoliy Kudlay of Ukraine. I think that Anatoliy gave a good lesson the most of the other, much younger competitors, how to prepare the top definition. Finally, he took the 4th place, losing few points to Rafael Barrios of Spain in the routine.

The order of competitors in the super heavyweight changed from round to round. Ignoring the first round which is not taken into account for the finalists, the routine round was dominated by the new Russian “pyramid”, Ramzes Tlyakodugov. Ramzes is sorter but very muscular. Having better muscle quality, he would defend his first position but he lost too many points to Bulgarian giant Dimitar Dimitrov in the 3rd round, dropping to the second position.

Dimitrov, 3rd place winner at the 2007 World Championships, was too static in the routine, earning 3rd place in this round only, but then improved in the 3rd round, showing the best separation and definition in the line-up. In this situation, Marek Olejniczak, who finished 3rd last year in Baku, remains in this position, as well as Andrzej Kolodziejczyk kept his 4th place. Not enough, Marco Lucacci of Italy, who started with his 3rd place in the first round, dropped to the 5th place inn the finals.

And the mixed pairs category. Only three couples in the line-up and the quality of two of them was close to the newcomers. EBFF will consider once again if continue this category in the future, since it is less and less popular among the athletes. This time the Lithuanian couple: Elena Stasiukynienie and Darius Minkevicius was the best.

2008 European Men Championships passed to history and next weekend we will have the European Women Championships in Skopje, Macedonia.


Parade of Nations.


IFBB President Dr. Rafael SANTONJA during his opening speech.


Classic Bodybuilding up to 170 cm category (from L to R): Vlad PIHUREAC (3rd place); Miguel PEREZ (1st place); Konstantin PASKALEV (2nd place).


Classic Bodybuilding up to 175 cm category (from L to R): Slaven PETROVIC (3rd place); Frantisek HUF (1st place); Josef FURIN (2nd place).


Classic Bodybuilding up to 180 cm category (from L to R): Braulio MURILLO (3rd place); Zbynek CERADSKY (1st place); Robert MAJEWSKI (2nd place).


Classic Bodybuilding over 180 cm category (from L to R): Jiri WAGNER (3rd place); Jerzy PISULSKI (1st place); Cristian PEREZ (2nd place).


Classic Bodybuilding overall winner: Zbynek CERADSKY congratulated by the IFBB President Dr. Rafael SANTONJA (right) and EBFF Vice-President Jose RAMOS.


Bodybuilding up to 65 kg category (from L to R): Grzegorz SOCHACKI (3rd place); Miguel RAMIREZ (1st place); Michal HLINKA (2nd place).


Bodybuilding up to 70 kg category (from L to R): Ignacio VALERA (3rd place); Vyacheslav MAKOGON (1st place); Aydin BICEN (2nd place).


Bodybuilding up to 75 kg category (from L to R): Francesco MELIS (3rd place); Nikolay CHERNETSKIY (1st place); Hamida GHILES (2nd place).


Bodybuilding up to 80 kg category (from L to R): Beila BALOG (3rd place); Igor LOSEV (1st place); Oscar MARIN (2nd place).


Bodybuilding up to 85 kg category (from L to R): Juan GIMENEZ (3rd place); Josep MERINO (1st place); Marian CAMBAL (2nd place).


Bodybuilding up to 90 kg category (from L to R): Andriy KUKHARCHUK (3rd place); Vugar VERDIYEV (1st place); Pierre CHAMOUN (2nd place).


Bodybuilding up to 100 kg category (from L to R): Rafael BARRIOS (3rd place); Manuel MANCHADO (1st place); Roman DUDUSHKIN (2nd place).


Bodybuilding over 100 kg category (from L to R): Marek OLEJNICZAK (3rd place); Dimitar DIMITROV (1st place); Ramzes TLYAKODUGOV (2nd place).


Bodybuilding overall (from L to R): Manuel MANCHADO congratulated by the IFBB President Dr. Rafael SANTONJA (right) and EBFF Vice-President Jose RAMOS (second from left).


The best mixed pair: Elena STASUKYNIENIE and Darius MINKEVICIUS.

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