The 2nd European Universities Taekwondo Championship ended on December 15 with the delivery of the winners medals and the closing ceremony. At the end of the event, the spotlight on the field was on the Russian University of Physical Education, Sport and Tourism - winning 14 medals, 10 of them gold. Also the home team, University of Minho, was very successful, reached the podium nine times.

The European Universities Taekwondo Championship, held in Braga (POR) between December 13 and 15, was marked by the presence of prominent student athletes, among which we can highlight Portuguese students Rui Bragança (World Vice Champion), Nuno Pinto (World Top 20, World University medallist), Mário Silva (Vice Olympic Youth Champion), Jean Michel Fernandes (Junior Vice Champion), Ana Coelho (Silver medallist in Serbia Open, Female Athlete of the Year), Ana Rita Lopes (European University Vice Champion) and Eduardo Rodriguez (World University bronze medallist). Germany excelled with Konstantinos Konstantinidis (European Champion) and Sebastian Lehmann (European University medallist), while Russia had big names like Musikhina Ekaterina (Universiade bronze medallist), Kristina Khafizova (TOP 10 World) and Albert Gaaun (World University champion).

The only Russian university present - Russian University of Physical Education, Sport and Tourism - was undoubtedly the winner of the II Taekwondo EUC, winning  14 medals (10 golds, 1 silver and 3 bronzes), while the country with the most medals was Spain (15 medals), spread across seven universities.

The closing ceremony concluded the event in the presence of the participants and high officials, including Luis Rodrigues, Chairman of the Organizational Committee, Carlos Silva, Administrator of SASUM, Bruno Barracosa, President of FADU, Mario Fernandes, President of the Portuguese Taekwondo Federation (UPD), Haris Pavletic, EUSA Medical Committee Chairman, Joaquim Peixoto, EUSA Technical Delegate for EUC Taekwondo 2011 and others.

With so many stars present, this event could only have a special glow, with a time of great athletes, competitions, social events and overall organisation for over 340 individuals directly involved in the championship - athletes, coaches, technical staff, organisers, volunteers, etc. Participants came from 16 countries and represented 40 European universities, proving that Taekwondo has a bright future in European university sport.

For more information and photos please visit the official website of the event at www.taekwondo11.sas.uminho.pt. The next Taekwondo event within the EUSA sports programme is the 3rd European Universities Taekwondo Championship, to take place in Kazan, Russia, in 2013.