Three medals for Greece in the individual competitions!

Photo: Photobit.net

The 2026 Balkan Show Jumping Championship concluded successfully yesterday afternoon in Thessaloniki, at the Ippos Club, with Greece handing over the Balkan flag to Romania, the host country of the next edition of the Championship.

A triumph for Greece came in the individual Ladies’ Championship, with Greek riders taking the top two places on the podium!

Following a jump-off between three riders who had accumulated 8 penalty points over the three days of competition, Demi Igglesi and Dinka de Chalusse were crowned Balkan Champions. The pair finished the jump-off on 4 penalty points, recording the fastest time of 36.76 seconds.

Second place went to Katerina Doubodel riding Cash de la Hart, also on 4 penalty points in the jump-off, with a time of 41.12 seconds.

Third place was claimed by Zeynep Aba of Turkey, riding Gigi, who finished the jump-off on 8 penalty points.

In the Children’s Championship, Greece won another gold medal, thanks to Myrto Spentzou and Rebel. The Greek rider was the only competitor to finish on 0 penalty points after the four rounds and the subsequent jump-off.

Second place went to Emma Alexandra Baltac of Romania, riding Chairsil, with 4 penalty points in the jump-off, while Moustafa Ali Altay of Turkey, riding Fieldmaster, took third place with 8 penalty points in the jump-off.

In the Young Riders’ Championship, Maria Kavallari and Sunny narrowly missed out on a place on the podium, finishing fourth with 17.1 penalty points after the four rounds.

The gold medal went to Romania’s Octavia Illisoi, riding Melrin van t Heike, with 2.2 penalty points. Duru Ayan of Turkey, riding Izabelle, took second place with 13 penalty points, while Ivana Angelova finished third with Intro-K Van'T Kattenheye Z, on 16 penalty points.

Greece secured another fourth-place finish in the Senior Championship, with Panagiotis Tsaktiris and Orienta finishing on 7.3 penalty points after the four rounds.

Tsaktiris, however, claimed victory in the day’s Grand Prix, producing the fastest and untouchable round in the jump-off.

The individual Balkan Championship gold medal went to Croatia’s Josipa Koletic, riding Quomedie Fetiche Z, with just 4.4 penalty points.

Second place went to Romania’s Constantin Cojocariu with Caroly, on 5 penalty points, while Andrija Hrgovic of Croatia, riding Rasall van de Blinkoeve, also finished on 5 penalty points to take third place.

The competition was honored by the presence of Konstantinos Gioulekas, Minister of Macedonia and Thrace, and Kyriaki Giannakidou, Deputy Mayor of Thessaloniki, who presented the prizes and medals to the winners in the respective categories.