A medal in Vršac this weekend will secure direct qualification for December’s European Grand Prix Final, as the continental Cadet and Junior circuit returns to Serbia on 17–18 October.
Emir Hamdan
Cadets and Juniors compete in Vršac on 17–18 October, with all four medallists in each division qualifying directly for December’s European Grand Prix Final in Sarajevo.
A medal in Vršac this weekend will secure direct qualification for December’s European Grand Prix Final, as the continental Cadet and Junior circuit returns to Serbia on 17–18 October.
The E6 competition at Centar Millennium offers all four medallists in each division a place at the E10 Final in Sarajevo, scheduled for 5–7 December. The qualification belongs to the athlete, and the event outline permits it to be transferred to another weight division.
Reaching the semi-finals is therefore enough to book a place in Sarajevo. The Vršac qualifier is open to athletes from outside Europe too, with entries including competitors from Burundi, Benin and the United Arab Emirates.
Croatia’s Jelena MARINCEL, a Cadet W-41kg bronze medallist at last December’s European Grand Prix Final, returns to Vršac in Junior W-42kg after taking gold at the Dupnitsa Open on 26 September.
That title came at W-46kg, where she beat Ioanna SIATRA 2–1 in the final. Her W-42kg results this season include silver at the European Grand Prix Open Ramus in Sofia, so the Vršac entry brings her back to a division in which she has already reached a series final.
Vršac also holds a place in her Cadet record: she won silver at W-41kg in the June 2025 qualifier. This time, she competes on Saturday in the Junior field.
San Marino’s Alessandro GIOVAGNOLI is among Sunday’s Junior M-78kg entries, arriving after winning the Swiss Open in September.
He beat Marius Henri WOLF 2–0 in the semi-final and Alessio CASPARI by the same score in the final. Already a bronze medallist at February’s European Grand Prix qualifier in Tirana, Giovagnoli brings both a recent title and experience of this year’s qualifying circuit to Vršac.
Both days are scheduled to begin at 09:00 local time in Serbia. Cadets and Juniors compete on each day, with the programme split by weight.
| Division | Saturday, 17 October | Sunday, 18 October |
|---|---|---|
| Cadets | M-33kg to M-49kg; W-29kg to W-44kg | M-53kg to M+65kg; W-47kg to W+59kg |
| Juniors | M-45kg to M-59kg; W-42kg to W-52kg | M-63kg to M+78kg; W-55kg to W+68kg |
The outline specifies seeding from the latest published European rankings.
Watch live and follow Courts, brackets and athletes on TAEKWONDO.TV’s Vršac event page as coverage becomes available.
Cover photograph: Vlado Marinkovic / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0). Archive venue photograph, resized for display.
