This category is meant to highlight the skill of the pigeon fancier. For each race, five pigeons are nominated, representing the team for that competition. At least two of them must rank that race, so that the pigeon fancier can accomplish the team ranking. With the cumulative score of the first two pigeons in the team, the pigeon fancier enters the ranking dedicated to fanciers and that stage can be taken into account for the national championship of fanciers, which, as in the case of pigeons, has several categories. One of them, Short distance Fancier, is met by ranking in five competitions with a distance between 95 and 420 km.

The “flair” of a pigeon fancier is best highlighted when, at one stage or more, he manages to discover the best of his pigeons, the most prepared in all respects and the team is nominated successfully. Also, if you are in possession of very good pigeons, able to win competition after competition, top norms for this category are easier to obtain. This applied for the fanciers George Vochin (DJ), the team Poenaru + Călin (DJ) and the trio Santa + Slibut + Fildan (BH),  who occupy the first three places in the national ranking of the Short distance Fancier category.

Checking the centralizations of the races with which the fanciers mentioned above obtained one of the three national trophies, we can say that their differentiation was made on the basis of the number of first places won in the fanciers’ ranking. George Vochin, the Champion of Short distance Fancier category this year, for example, achieved the norm only with 1st place stages on the launch. Keep in mind that we are talking about a category for which five competitions are required.

George Vochin (DJ), national Champion, Short distance Fancier category

As we mentioned, in the case of George Vochin, the occupant of the 1st national place, we are talking about the achievement of the Short distance Fancier norm with five first places on the launch, at races from 147 km, to of 367 km. The coefficient achieved at these races is 18.10 points, and the scores of three of the five stages were taken from the general rankings. “Approximately 50 pigeons compete each year for 100 to 700 km races, pigeons coming from the Elzinga, Koopman, Dijkstra and Schaerlaeckens families. I use three types of food from Versele Laga: Gerry, Superstar and Energy. My pigeons receive Gerry when arriving from the race, the next days they will receive Gery with Superstar, and on the weekend Superstar with Energy. They have two trainings during the week at a distance of 80 km and I watch the behavior of the pigeons. In order to bet on them, the team must train very well before the race, to eat well. Basically, to have a behavior from which to realize that they are in a good shape, and pigeon fanciers know what this means. This year, my most constant pigeons in the short distance categories, which also helped me in the team, are the ones from the 7th and 9th places nationally at Old birds Short distance category ​​”, explained George Vochin (foto right).

2nd place National goes also to Dolj

The Doljean team Poenaru + Călin, formed by the pigeon fanciers Constantin Poenaru and Răzvan Călin (foto left), is on the second place of the national ranking this category. Being close due to family ties and by the passion for pigeons, the two Dolj pigeon fanciers, members of the Băilești club, had a very good 2020 season. The second national place in the category we are referring to today was won thanks to three races they were ranked first in the fanciers ranking, completed by a 2nd place and a 4th place. Thanks to this performance, team Poenaru+Călin accumulated 29.91 penalty points. “About three quarters of our flight group are pigeons that participate in all the races in the country, being basketed every week. We compete using total widowhood method, and for feeding we use the mixtures from Versele Laga. We do several trainings between races, depending pigeons condition. At the same time, we try to identify the fittest of the pigeons, considering how quickly they recover, the way they train, how quickly they regain their vitality after a competition and other aspects. This way, we try to select the most prepared pigeons from the flight group and count on them for the team. We also use experienced pigeons, such as, for example, the national champion from National Ace Palmares, who helped us every single time”, mentioned Răzvan Călin.

Șanta + Zlibuț + Fildan, 3rd place National Short distance Fancier category

The national podium of this ​​category this season was completed by the Șanta + Zlibuț + Fildan trio from Bihor, formed by the fanciers Ioan Șanta, Sebastian Zlibuț and Ionuț Fildan. The performance of the three fanciers was a very good one during the season, winning three races, and the other two counted for achieving this norm are both 2nd place on the launch. With these results in the fanciers’ ranking, the score achieved by the Bihor team is 34.19 penalty points, enough to win the 3rd place National Short distance Fancier category. “We compete in the 300-600 km races, and as pigeon origins we have Leo Heremans, Vandenabeele and Feldotto. Most of them come from the team Filip + Birtalan. We compete them using total widowhood and for feeding, during the season, we used the mixtures of Gerry and Superstar from Versele Laga, plus Energy from Bayers. Also, we did two trainings per week, between races, from a distance of 50 km “, Ioan Șanta explained (foto right).

In conclusion, access to the national podium was possible based on extraordinary results. To win in a race the first place five times, or even three times, are clear evidence of very good knowledge, which is why this year’s winners of the Short distance Fancier category deserve all our appreciation.