Viktoria, you have loads of experience at the Worlds and Europeans. Tell us, were this year’s Europeans any different than in the past?

This year I had a tough fight with Alina Volkova, both in left and in right arm. We have met each other in the eliminations, so we’ve entered the finals already a little tired. After the fight with Alina I’ve met another Russian, I’ve barely won with her. As an effect, she’s won gold.

I’ve won with Alina by her fouls. But I think she is a very hard rival. We also had a fight in right arm in the eliminations. This is why I entered the fight with the Bulgarian already tired. At the last year’s Worlds I fought her long and hard, but I won then.

The fans are not used to seeing you in any place but the first. Why haven’t you won in right? It seemed like you were in control, but something went wrong…

First of all, I was already tired. Then there was another thing – in my preparations I was focusing on fighting over the top and training for Volkova, but it turned out that I fought Dimitrova in straps. Maybe this was the problem…

Besides that, my rivals are getting better every year, “growing”. The table space is getting tighter. This makes me have to look for new ways to beat every single rival.

How did you like the competition, the organization, the refereeing?

It wasn’t great. The weigh-ins took a long time, because of some computer malfunction. Then we had to come back again, to make the photos for our ID’s. The senior categories went well, the semi-finals and finals went as planned, on time. There was a live broadcast. I liked that I could watch my whole category, all the tables.

Everything went as usual, but the refereeing … it was often very subjective!

And what do you think of the Ukrainian team performance?

It was weak, one of the worst we’ve had, for sure. Too few medals, too little gold!

But the level of competition is growing, on the other hand, the Georgian male team was amazing!

When will we see you again at the table?

First at the Worlds, and then I plan to go to the Professionals’ World Cup. And one more thing – I would like to thank everyone who has cheered for me and gave me strength. Thanks to the whole team, and especially to my coach – Vladimir Petrenko.

Thank you for talking with us.

Greetings to all the readers!