Daniel Balan was close to winning a medal at the European U-21 Taekwondo WTF Championships, Olympic version, that is taking place in Chisinau. In the up to 74 kg class, he went through to the final, where he was beaten by Alexandr Pagaev of Russia 16-4. If he had scored a victory, he would have secured at least a bronze medal.
In the preliminary battles, he defeated Jakub Skorepa of the Czech Republic and Manuel Jimenez Beloqui of Spain.
The other representatives of Moldova at the continental competition scored modest results. Aliona Nartea (-62 kg), Diana Zelenco (-67 kg), and Eugen Potolea (-80 kg) were eliminated in the first round.
The leaders of the national squad Vladislav Arventi (-68 kg) and Andrei Rotaru (-63 kg) enter the competition on April 20.
The European U-21 Taekwondo WTF Championships brought together over 300 athletes from 42 countries.
