In the city of Leszno (Poland) the open international canopoulo tournament “Kwissa Cup” was held, and at the same time the Polish Cup 1st stage competitions were held.
The youth U-18 and children’s U-14 teams of the Alytus Sports and Recreation Center (Alytus SRC) took part in them, strengthened by Daugai athletes.
9 teams from Poland, the Czech Republic and Lithuania participated in the junior U-18 and women’s group (division 2), which were divided into three groups of three teams each.
Alytus juniors started the competition in the group with a technical defeat. A victory was won against the Katowice team, but it was appealed by the opponents, filing a protest about our player’s participation in two divisions. That is, he played for two teams in different age groups. Although his age allowed him to play in both divisions, the competition regulations did not state that a player could not represent two teams in different age groups. However, a special regulation, which not all participants knew about, was against a player playing for two teams. The panel of judges awarded the Alytus team a technical defeat. In the next group match, our kayakers suffered a defeat against their peers from Kalisz. Won the third place in the group. Alytis continued the fight for the seventh-ninth place.
In the second round, the Alytis team played against the teams of Kališa II and Trakai for the seventh place and won easy victories. He won the seventh place in the final standings. Our athletes really deserved a higher place. Marius Čekanauskas, Matas Šoliūnas, Nojus Sukackas, Oskaras Markauskas from Aly, Rojus Tupikas, Gabrielė Čepulytė and Edvardas Dirsė from Daugava played in the team. Team coaches Rimas Sukackas and Kęstutis Dambrauskas.
In the third division, the young kayakers from the Alytus region played very successfully in the children’s U-14 group. Eight teams participated in this division. Alytis started the group competition powerfully. In the first match, they easily defeated their opponents from Kalisz, but in the second match, the team from Alyty won only in the last seconds against the team from Warsaw. In the third match, our athletes won an easy victory against the Kaniovo kayakers. Won the first place in the group and a ticket to the semi-finals.
The semi-final match had to be played against the hosts Lešno kayakers. They are a strong team and have a very strong support team. However, our young athletes withstood both physical and psychological pressure and won the victory and secured the right to play in the finals for the title of winners.
In the finals, the Alytyskis played against their peers from Chočno. It was a tough final match. The Alytus team, led by its captain and leader Vakaris, won and became the 2024 team. Winners of the first round of the Polish Kanupolo Cup. Vakaris Sukackas, Pijus and Adrijus Baranauskas, Gustas Supranavičius from Aly, Armandas Sakalauskas, the youngest player of the team and the competition, Aivaras Jonauskas and Martynas Gecevičius from Daugava played in the team. Team coaches Rimas Sukackas and Kęstutis Dambrauskas. The top scorer in the third division was Vakaris Sukackas from Alyty. The evening scored 18 goals.
The information was prepared by coach K. Dambrauskas
