World Tournament

2001 IFK European Championships

Russian fighters once again dominated an international tournament as they proved too strong for their European counterparts at the IFK European Championships in Berlin, Germany.
Lightweight podium places	In the lightweight category the Russian fighters Alexei Alexiev and Vjascheslav Lukjanov fought superbly to set up an all Russian encounter in the final. Alexiev reached the final with victories over Poland's Slawomir Mirocha, Adin Ulas and Thorsten Preiss of Germany and a semi final win over current IFK European Champion David Godino of Spain on boards after a ferocious fight. Reigning Dutch Open Champion Rene Stigter looked in good form defeating Sebastien Stachon of Poland before losing in a very close match by split decision to the excellent Canadian Mikhail Zimmerman who was then defeated by the imperious Lukjanov. Russian Champion Lukjanov looked in unstoppable form as he progressed through the field dazzling the crowd with his classy techniques which culminated in a tight semi final victory against the strong Pole Marius Janicki. Polish Champion Janicki had earlier defeated Spain's Javier Babiloni on weight and Britain's Darren Chanagagasubay in a tight match and lost out to Godino for third place in a marathon encounter. The final was a tight affair with each fighter giving very little away, but it an Alexiev low kick out of nowhere eventually stopped his compatriot to give him the title.
In the middleweight section there was a number of high quality fights. Stefan Hofer of Switzerland was in good form defeating Belgium's Sven Vermeulen and then the very strong Russian Champion Akbolat Appaev in the quarter finals with a jodan mawashi geri for a wazari. Double British Open champion Kenny Jarvis looked equally impressive as he progressed to the semi finals with victories over Holland's Jacob Groenhof and Canada's Yannick Galipeau with his usual strong punch and low kick combinations.

In the other half of the draw former Russian Champion Maxim Dedik looked in devastating form as he marched to the semi final defeating Germany's Mustafa Oksuz, Polish Champion Marius Ligizynski and Holland's Bartva Dooremalen who had previously defeated Swiss Champion Mario Pavlovic. Dedik then met the impressive Dennis Morkens of Belgium who booked his place in the semi's after stopping the strong German Oliver Brumme with two identical hiza geri's to the jaw in the previous round. Dedik versus Moorkens unfortunately was short lived as the Belgian dislocated his shoulder early in the first round and was unable to continue. In the other semi final Jarvis and Hofer matched each other equally with strength and technique. Despite Jarvis finishing the stronger of the two it was not enough to give him the decision as Hofer went through on Tameshwari. Due to Moorkens injury Kenny Jarvis collected a much deserved third place. In the final Dedik looked the fresher man against the battle worn Hofer and the Swiss fighter had no answer to the Russians quick and powerful combinations as the Russian claimed victory with two impressive wazari's at the end of the first round.

Middleweight podium places

The Heavyweight section proved to have the surprise of the tournament as in the early rounds the defending IFK World and European Champion Jakov Zobnin of Russia was disqualified for a head punch which knocked his opponent out. This enabled his compatriot Anzor Shikhabakhov to try to keep the title in Russian hands. Germany's Sandro Kramer lost out to the giant Jurian Westenburg of Holland who then lost to the determined Spaniard Domingo Quinones in the quarter finals. Shikhabakhov, the current Russian Heavyweight Champion, was impressive as he came through on weight against Former IFK European Heavyweight Felix Ntumazah of Britain in the quarter finals, and then defeated Quinones in the semi finals. With Zobnin disqualified the other half of the draw opened up. This gave German Cirit Attakan the perfect opportunity to progress which he duly took. In his first fight Attakan executed the most spectacular technique of the day with an ushiro mawashi geri that knocked out Holland's Pouw clean out. Attakan then progressed via a bye and further delighted the home crowd by defeating Britain's Ricky Tyler in the semi final. The final however was a short lived affair as the strong but nimble Shikhabakhov caught his opponent with a shita tsuki early on that left his opponent unable to continue and gave him the European title.