The XX Estonian Cup is now behind us, and it’s good to see that the level and popularity of Estonian bodybuilding and fitness, measured in the number of competitors, is starting to trend upward.
The competition was opened by federation president Arnold Tokko, who himself last competed exactly 20 years ago at the first Cup in Tartu in 1985, where the overall category was won by Oleg Andla, who this time acted as a judge.
After the opening remarks, it was the athletes’ turn. As usual, the show started with the youth classes, -67.5kg and +67.5kg. Since each category had only one entrant, the competitors came on stage together. In the lighter category it was Artur Schotter, who had already won in the autumn and was also the youngest competitor at the event at 15, alongside Alo Nurmsalu of Planet Sport, who was competing for the first time. Both youngsters naturally went on to win their weight categories.
Next on stage were the juniors, 72.5kg. Out of three competitors, Richard Lant of Planet Sport, another first-timer, came out on top. Among the heavier juniors, +72.5, the battle was fiercer, this time between Aleksander Azanov of TÜ SK and Oscar Edela of Planet Sport, with the latter winning narrowly. It’s worth mentioning that the winners of all three categories are coached by Ott Kiivikas, who himself competed in the men’s heavyweight class. Amazon.ee readers have been able to follow these youngsters’ progress over recent months under the name Future Bodybuilders group, and as time has shown, the group’s success was crowned at the competition.
Once the weight-category winners were decided, it was time to pick the overall winner among the juniors and youth, and Alo Nurmsalu of Planet Sport won convincingly.
Next up were the women, and there were more of them than we have been used to seeing. Kadri Kuusik of Planet Sport faced a challenger in Siiri Nuutmann of Viimsi SPA. This time the more experienced Kadri Kuusik won, but Siiri could grow into a serious rival in the future.
Women’s bodyfitness was on the program for the first time, with two competitors, Christiane Alavee and Davy Berg. Both women were stepping into competition for the first time, and Cristiane Alavee took the win.
In women’s bodybuilding, Merike Sula of TÜ SK was victorious. She has won this category repeatedly in recent years.
Men’s fitness and bodyfitness were also on the competition program in Estonia for the first time. In fitness, Riho Halgma, who put in a fine performance a few months ago and was also awarded the open-class fitness champion title, unfortunately had no competitors this time. But we hope that fitness and bodyfitness are exactly the categories that will see large numbers of entrants in the future.
Bodyfitness had three competitors. This discipline will be on the program as an international major competition for the first time this very weekend, at the European Championships in Brasov, Romania. The category was won convincingly by Janer Rückenberg of TÜ SK. The battle for second and third place was tighter, between Planet Sport’s Kaido Voogla and Erik Jässi. Both men were competing for the first time, and this time Voogla came out ahead. It’s worth noting that Erik Jässi has usually been in the organizer’s role, and he dropped 20kg for this competition.
After fitness it was the turn of men’s bodybuilding. The 70kg and -80kg classes came on stage together, since -70kg had just one competitor, Valju Jagomäe of RevalSport, and 80kg had Louis Pullano and the veteran Indrek Otsus, who is celebrating his 50th birthday this year. Once again the young men couldn’t beat Otsus, who won the category convincingly.
Men -90kg: two competitors, Oleg Feodorov and Imre Vähi (also known as Vend Vähk). Imre ended the long streak of second-place finishes that has haunted him all these past years, and won the category convincingly.
The heavier the weight class, the more interesting things got. The +90 kg category drew the most entrants, and the main contest was between 6 x Absolute Champion Ott Kiivikas and Aleksander Aleksejev, both representing RevalSport. The competitors were called out separately to compare poses, but Kiivikas came out the winner by the judges’ unanimous decision, with Argo Ader placing third.
Six men were called up for the men’s overall: Jagomäe, Otsus, Ader, Vähi, Kiivikas and Aleksejev. The final order was Kiivikas, then Aleksejev (originally, but since he refused to go to doping control, this automatically counted as a positive test result and disqualification; the EKFL board will decide in the near future what penalty Aleksejev receives), with Otsus moving up to second and Imre Vähi to third. In the club standings, Planet Sport was best, TÜ SK second and Reval – Sport third.
The Planet Sport coaches put on a substantial intermission show, all the supporters were remembered, and coaching qualification certificates were presented to the certified coaches. It was a pleasant and worthwhile competition, and the EKFL once again thanks all the competitors, supporters and spectators, without whom this competition would not have happened.
Estonia will be represented at the European Championships in Romania by the athletes Riho Halgma, Imre Vähi, Indrek Otsus and Ott Kiivikas, and by Arnold Tokko and Tambet Mägi as delegates. The competition takes place on 6-9 May in Brasov.
RESULTS
Youth -67.5 kg
1 – Artur Schotter – I
Youth +67.5 kg
4 – Alo Nurmsalu – I
Juniors -72.5 kg
7 – Richard Lant – I
9 – Jaan Lepp – II
15 – Ilja ¦morgun – III
Juniors +72.5 kg
26 – Oscar Edela – I
32 – Aleksander A¸anov – II
10 – Tanel Anton – III
5 – Robert Nool – 4
Juniors + Youth Overall
4 – Alo Nurmsalu – I
26 – Oscar Edela – II
7 – Richard Lant – III
1 – Artur Schotter – 4
Women’s bodyfitness
2 – Christiane Alavee – I
18 – Devy Berg – II
Women’s fitness
35 – Kadri Kuusik – I
33 – Siiri Nuutmann – II
Women’s bodybuilding
13 – Merike Sula – I
Men’s fitness
16 – Riho Halgma – I
Men’s bodyfitness
36 – Janar Rückenberg – I
3 – Kaido Voogla – II
20 – Erik Jässi – III
Men’s bodybuilding -70 kg
12 – Valju Jagomäe – I
Men’s bodybuilding -80 kg
22 – Indrek Otsus – I
19 – Louis Pullano – II
Men’s bodybuilding -90 kg
30 – Imre Vähi – I
6 – Oleg Fjodorov – II
Men’s bodybuilding +90 kg
37 – Ott Kiivikas – I
29 – Argo Ader – III
27 – Viktor Tkat¨henko – 4
14 – Lennart Männiste – 5
38 – Aleksander Aleksejev (disq.)
Men’s overall
37 – Ott Kiivikas – I
22 – Indrek Otsus – II
30 – Imre Vähi – III
29 – Argo Ader – 5
12 – Valju Jagomäe – 6
38 – Aleksander Aleksejev (disq.)
Author: EKFL
Come and train! ArtGym
