After a very special season, Irinel Popa, from the town of Bârsănești, Bacău county, manages to get on the Gold Club podium, placing 2nd and 16th nationally. This year, the Moldovan fancier seems to have had all his stars aligned, and things went perfectly in his loft, especially in the flight group. Thus, at the end of the season, he managed to be present in the national top 3 with two young pigeons, in the Yearlings Marathon category, through the cock series 0221302-2021, which occupied the 3rd national place, while in the Long Distance Yearlings he was national vice-champion with the hen 2015666-2021. The hen, nicknamed “666”, also managed to obtain the second best score at the Gold Club, i.e. 5.87 points. As for origins, the runner-up was bred from a cock purchased in Belgium, from the fancier Peeters Fabienne, and her mother is bred from an original Drapa hen, being a granddaughter of the famous “Pokerface”, and a cock by Etienne Devos. “I purchased, to ring the young birds, 35 Gold rings, and at the end of the 2022 season I managed to win the 1st place in the Province of Moldova and the 2nd place in the national Gold Club with the hen “666”, as well as the 2nd place in the county, respectively the 16th place in the national To the Gold Club, with the cock with the series 2015672-2021. My flight lot was contested at natural. The hen “666” was basketed in two of the three long-distance stages, with the egg-hatching position, and in the third stage she went on a small chick and demonstrated that that position motivated her even better”, declared Irinel Popa.

The Bacău fancier, who joined the largest pigeon-loving structure in Romania – UNCR – only three years ago, says that the idea of the Gold Club is an extremely good one: “I have been competing pigeons since 2018, the year I was a member of the UCPR , and in 2019 I signed up as a pigeon fancier member within the UFCR. From my point of view, the idea of establishing the Gold Club was a very good one, but there should be more stability in terms of regulations. It is very important that in 2024, the top ten national places will be awarded regardless of the province they belong to, and the union awards six prizes separately for the six provinces. All in all, this competition is very good for Romanian pigeon fanciers”, added Irinel, a fan of the Long Distance, Marathon and Extreme Marathon categories.