20th Alpe Adria International Master Weightlifting Tournament
The 20th Alpe Adria International Master Weightlifting Tournament was held in the charming town of Zalaeszerceg, Hungary, on Saturday 22nd October 2022.
At the opening ceremony, the President Ernesto Zanetti handed over to some authorities of Zala and to some members of the organizing staff the “Certificate of Merit” prepared for the Jubilee of the event.
“I am happy – said the President – that we can finally find ourselves all together and I am really very happy to verify that the Corona Virus has not damaged any member of the Alpe Adria Family.
On the other hand, I am very worried because the health emergency is not over yet and another one is already looming, the economic one, which is ferociously biting all European nations. We must all be ready to help the organizers for the best outcome of the competition and we hope that the authorities can support them also for next year”.
The match suffered from the absence of the teams from Bosnia Hercegovina, Croatia and Slovenia but, despite this, the participation was very consistent.
28 athletes, including 4 women, divided into two competition groups of 14 athletes each, belonging to the representatives of the Niederösterreich (AUT) of Friuli Venezia Giulia and Veneto (ITA) and of the local Zalaeszerceg (HUN) fought each other, giving life to a wonderful very pleasant and friendly atmosphere, on the platform of the Palasport of Zala.
Once again, the Veneto won with 21 points, but this time it had to sweat a lot, pursued by a very combative Friuli who finished with the same score (21) but second place for the number of participants. In third place, with 11 points, the representative of the Niederösterreich who exhibited the oldest athlete of the event (the eighty-seven-year-old Kurt Bohatschek) and last the hosts Team of Zala led by the indomitable Peter Papp, outsider of Class “B”.
Veneto doubled for the two cups of “Best Athlete of the Event” made available by the Honorary President of Alpe Adria Marcello Zoratti, assigned to Maria Vittoria Sportelli for women (217.60 points) and to the “stainless” Franco Omaggio for man (392.50 points).
The appointment is once again in Zala for Saturday 3 June 2023 for the 57th edition of the tournament. It will be the final edition of the 7-year cycle that began in 2015 in Udine and which, due to the 2-year of “stop” imposed by the Corona Virus epidemic, will end in 2023.
