Turkish taekwondo athlete Furkan Ubeyde Çamoğlu secured the gold medal in the men's 54 kg. category by defeating Greece's Konstantinos Dimitropoulos in the final at the European Taekwondo Championships held in Belgrade, Serbia on Thursday.
Representing Türkiye, eight athletes competed in taekwondo and para-taekwondo on the first day of the championship, resulting in a total of one gold and three silver medals for taekwondo, and one silver and one bronze for para-taekwondo.
Çamoğlu's journey to the gold included victories over France's Amine Boukarnia in the first round, Serbia's Relja Ivkovic in the second round, Israel's Tom Paschovsky in the quarterfinals, and Croatia's Josip Teskera in the semifinals.
The 19-year-old athlete clinched the gold by defeating Konstantinos Dimitropoulos in the final.
In the men's 68 kg. category, Hakan Reçber advanced to the final after victories over England's Jamie McIntosh in the second round, Italy's Daniel Lo Pinto in the quarterfinals, and Denmark's Tobias Hyttel in the semifinals.
However, he had to settle for silver after a defeat against Hungary's Omar Gergely Salim in the final.
Merve Dinçel Kavurat, competing in the women's 49 kg. category, reached the final by defeating England's Jodie McKew in the second round, Denmark's Jade Theresa Castillo in the quarterfinals, and Croatia's Bruna Duvancic in the semifinals.
She secured the silver medal after losing to Spain's Adriana Cerezo Iglesias in the final.
Sude Yaren Uzunçavdar, representing the Crescent-Star colors in the women's 73 kg. category, advanced to the final by defeating Portugal's Joana Costa Cardoso in the first round, Czech Republic's Iveta Jirankova in the quarterfinals and Germany's Yanna Schneider in the semifinals.
She claimed the silver medal after a close match against France's Althea Laurin.
In the men's K44 58 kg. category, Ali Can Özcan reached the final by defeating Spain's Rachid El in the quarterfinals and Askhat Akmatov in the semifinals.
However, he settled for silver after a loss to Israel's Asaf Yasur in the final.
Nurcihan Ekinci, competing in the women's K44 47 kg. category, secured the bronze medal after defeating Büşra Emire in the quarterfinals but losing to Dzhetsun-Sholbana Kara-Ool in the semifinals.
The championship's second day on Friday will feature four taekwondo and four para-taekwondo athletes competing for medals.
