Plazma Youth Sports Games brought a true sports celebration to Kvarner. Alan Katušić from Crikvenica won gold in chess for under-11s, while teams Tuljani and Mile triumphed in beach volleyball at Kantrida and in Opatija.
This summer, Rijeka was the center of the largest youth sports event in Croatia. More than 2,500 finalists gathered at the Plazma Youth Sports Games, competing in a range of disciplines from football, basketball, and tennis to chess, beach volleyball, and table tennis.
At the Wiener osiguranje chess tournament, the youngest competitors particularly shone. In the under-11 category, Alan Katušić from Crikvenica and Ema Poljak Ljubić took the top titles. Among the slightly older competitors, under-15, Petra Vidić and Tin Biti claimed gold.
The sandy courts at Kantrida and in Opatija hosted the best volleyball teams. The winning spots rightfully went to the teams Tuljani from Rijeka and Mile from Opatija, who demonstrated excellent play and team spirit.
The largest indoor football tournament in Europe, the Coca-Cola Cup, kicked off with qualifiers back in January. By the end of June, 155 tournaments had been held, with more than 50,000 young female and male footballers competing on pitches across Croatia. The finals for the 2011 and 2008 age groups and younger were played at the grounds in Zamet, Srdoči, and Kastav, and were broadcast live on Arena Sport, Sport Klub, and N1 television channels.
In the 2008 and younger category, the team Balki i prijatelji from Karlovac won the gold medal, while in the 2011 and younger category, MNK Futsal Pula came out on top. It is especially pleasing to note the fifth year of collaboration with the UEFA Foundation for Children, which promotes women's football, and the title of best female footballers went to the girls from ŽNK Arena Pula.
The future football hopes in Rijeka were also supported by well-known sports professionals: football coach Matjaž Kek, fitness coach Luka Brkljača, footballer Franko Andrijašević, and HNS instructor Dunja Štokan, who presented medals and awards to the young athletes.
Despite the defeat in the final, a nice fair play message came from one of the participants, a member of the team Elkem from Križevci, which finished second. "We are the team Elkem from Križevci, and we won second place. We're still a bit sad, but we should be proud of how we played. This was a great experience, we made new friends in Rijeka and had a lot of fun. Congratulations to the winners and all teams for their fighting spirit," he said.
The finals of the Tommy tournament in mini football for under-12s were played yesterday, and the new national champion is the team Zadranova. At the Sprite cup, a 3x3 basketball tournament, in the male category for 2013 and younger, Pazin triumphed, while in the 2011 category, the best were Six Seven from Dugopolje (women) and Borik Bjelovar (men).
The tennis tournament final was played at an attractive location, the Goran Ivanišević Stadium as part of ATP Umag. The gold tennis players in the 2012 and younger category were Lena Fonai and Pavo Zoričić.
During July, as part of the Telemach Sports Days, the graničar and athletics events were held, and in the third shift, the HEP handball tournament, GEN-I cup in volleyball, and Kinder joy table tennis tournament were played. The best individuals and teams from this year's Games travel to Split next week, where the grand International Finals will take place from August 17 to 22.
