![\"Geert](\"https:\/\/koiquestion.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMGL0165-scaled.jpg\")
We had expected that to happen in Belgium, perhaps in Oldenzaal or Appeltern in August, but the first showdown among the true Grand Champion<\/abbr> players took place in Bakkeveen, and it turned out to be a historic duel won by Geert Schrijvers. The Dutchman defeated the Belgian for both the Grand and Supreme Champion<\/abbr> titles in a head-to-head match between two Kohaku<\/abbr> from Geert and two Kohaku<\/abbr> from Filip. More on this duel, the Noorderlicht Koi Show, and the implications for the standings tomorrow when we announce the interim results; for now, we want to focus on all the Major Awards and showcase and share them. <\/p>\n At first, there was a lot of skepticism about the participation of these powerhouses in that small event in the north of the country, which was seen primarily as a competition for beginners. And there were beginners, indeed; and they won prizes, too, but while people mainly thought these men would get in the way of the northern beginners, the latter generally felt honored to be able to compete on the same stage. “I even had a chat with him, which provided some nice insights,” was a comment that reached me. <\/p>\n The organizers had added an extra size category, as they too were surprised by the enormous interest in having large fish participate in the show. In addition, an extra award was created for Noorderlicht A and Noorderlicht B, which can be seen as a friendship and encouragement prize. We will share these awards and other prize winners from various participants in a later post. In this article, you will find the Major Awards. We will reflect further on this in a comprehensive report on the Noorderlicht Koi Show. <\/p>\n Not only did the gentlemen compete for the top spots in the largest sizes, but they also brought in heavy hitters from afar for the smaller sizes. It is noteworthy that dealer Siebe van Tilburg of KoiWish BV plays a role as a supplier to both gentlemen and is thus involved in the Van Grand A, Grand B, Jumbo, Supreme, Mature, Junior, and Baby champion<\/abbr> categories!! A particularly impressive list for the young man, also known from TheKoiPage, who has been making a splash for several years now with very high-quality Koi\u2014much like we once knew Joachim Clement as a young dealer from ‘t Viske in Belgium, with a keen eye for future potential and show quality. As a fun fact, Siebe shares with us that the GC A, GC B, and Baby Champion<\/abbr> were all purchased through Odakan, a Japanese dealer and breeder comparable to Narita. <\/p>\n Nevertheless, AB Koi Marum and Weskoi have also positioned themselves as suppliers of a Major Award, and they are proud to represent this level of quality. This also makes it the highest quality ever seen in the north. Many visitors <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 90cm Kohaku<\/abbr> owned by Geert Schrijvers. Handled by dealer KoiWish BV. This Kohaku<\/abbr> comes from the DSKohaku bloodline and was purchased by Siebe van Tilburg (KoiWish BV) from Odakan. The Koi was shipped to the Netherlands early this spring and, just a few weeks later, won its first title at the Koi Show in Italy, where it also took home the top prize. The Koi\u2019s impressive build and playful pattern earned it a high score on the judges\u2019 list. <\/p>\n The pattern definition is neat, but the skin quality was overshadowed by that of the Supreme Champion<\/abbr>\u2014which I personally prefer\u2014though I understand that this fish scores higher overall in the judging. The Koi was swimming in better condition than in Italy; back then, she had only just arrived in the Netherlands and hadn\u2019t really been on a proper diet for quite some time. The fact that she\u2019s now been able to do that for a few weeks and acclimate is something you really notice in real life. <\/p>\n KoiQuestion<\/abbr> is proud that, by sharing our knowledge, we are ensuring the continuity of these specific qualities that enhance the enjoyment of the hobby. The class of this Knotwillow, as I previously referred to the Koi, has only been matched by Patrick Makkes\u2019 Yamabuki in previous years. For now, the Koi stands alone at the top in Europe. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n What a magnificent fish; it really exudes class; high-quality skin; solid build. As I said, I would have been fine with them making this Supreme into a Grand, but size does matter after all. The pattern is, of course, a real treat. A Maruten<\/abbr> Godan<\/abbr> Kohaku<\/abbr> with a shape like this should definitely count toward the points. At approximately 83 centimeters, it\u2019s a bit smaller than the Grand, but I do think Takahiro Litsuka, the current head of the Matsue Koi farm, is proud of the achievements this Koi has made in Europe. Will it be able to continue growing and developing to receive the highest honor? <\/p>\n “It was a very close call,” explained the jury in their remarks following the announcement; this is quite unusual, but a breath of fresh air at a Koi Show. As a result, people were able to ask the jury their questions. Next year, the plan is for this show to be judged according to APKI rules, which allow more leeway for this and even consider it important in the context of knowledge sharing; according to Ruud Besems and Ronald Stam, former ZNA judges who brought the APKI\u2014which originated in Indonesia\u2014to Europe. <\/p>\n Masanori Shinoda is the name of the breeder who brought this fish into the world. At just five years old, this fish is still very young to be making a splash at European Koi shows at 92 cm. It is therefore expected to continue growing for some time yet. But it is already an absolute standout, and it is rare to encounter Koi of this size and variety on Dutch soil. It is the kind of Koi that people come to the show specifically to see. The Hi<\/abbr> Utsuri is very clean, and we are very curious to see how the Koi will develop in Geert Schrijvers\u2019 pond. <\/p>\n I\u2019ll say it right off the bat: this photo doesn\u2019t even do the Koi justice; because I\u2019m going to be completely honest\u2014I think this is the very best fish of the show in terms of quality. The sumi<\/abbr> was lacquer-like, the beni<\/abbr> soft and dynamic, yet the contrasts were strong. The Koi, which comes from SFF\u2019s Miss Kyoto bloodline, was originally scheduled to make its debut earlier, but a delay in shipping threw a wrench in the works. The Koi has now achieved the highest possible honor as a Mature Champion, placing 4th among the 60-75 cm category in Bakkeveen. <\/p>\n The Koi hasn’t been fed for a long time in Japan, and now it’s barely been fed at all because of the show. So I\u2019m very curious to see what Filip and Els can accomplish with this beautiful Sanke<\/abbr>. He once started out this way with the now world-famous Miss Magnum; if there\u2019s one thing we know about Filip, it\u2019s that we don\u2019t have to worry about whether he\u2019ll build up the fish\u2019s body. <\/p>\n At any rate, he\u2019s taking home his first title\u2014even though Filip initially thought this prize was for his Kohaku<\/abbr>; however, Noorderlicht recently added an extra size category due to the many entries of large Koi and to keep the competition as fair as possible. The Mature category remained unchanged at size 4 in the rules; this resulted in a well-deserved winner. A beautiful tricolor with plenty of potential still to come. <\/p>\n A stunning Kohaku<\/abbr>; it immediately stood out in the tank\u2014not literally, of course. But it really was a striking specimen with a very broad frame, just as we\u2019ve come to expect from Matsue. A cool pattern, and the white skin was also very good. I think it was rightly named Adult Champion. The handling dealer, Weskoi, was also very pleased: <\/p>\n “Martijn and his wife are two passionate hobbyists who enjoy their hobby together. They purchased a Matsue Kohaku<\/abbr> from Weskoi\u2014a fish with great potential. It\u2019s wonderful, then, that this koi-loving couple had this fish beautifully evaluated. “The Kohaku<\/abbr> became Adult Champion in what was perhaps the toughest class, given the number of competitors in this category,” said manager John de Leur.<\/p>\n __________________________________________________________________________________________<\/span><\/p>\n This 44-centimeter Kohaku<\/abbr> from the Hoshikin farm is yet another joint entry by Geert Schrijvers and Siebe van Tilburg (Koi Wish BV). A particularly appealing Koi to behold: young, fresh, with excellent color distribution, and a beautifully broad tail section. Katsuyuki Hoshino. No one disputes this award. So Geert Schrijvers, just like Filip, isn\u2019t just competing with large Koi, but is also vying for the top prizes with the small Koi. Filip\u2019s award below is further proof of that. <\/p>\n These awards also earn points toward the league standings\u2014and quite a few, at that. So it\u2019s a sound strategy on the part of the gentlemen to climb higher in the league rankings. As a fan, I must say this is no bad thing, since it means we can expect to see more impressive Koi in the smaller size categories as well, just like here. <\/p>\n This Kohaku<\/abbr> has a stunning skin quality. It features a snow-white skin, a beautifully defined Maruzome Kiwa<\/abbr>, and a nice, solid row of scales along the sashi<\/abbr> at the front of the beni<\/abbr> pattern. This means the Koi still has some potential for future development and isn\u2019t quite finished yet. This is something we don\u2019t always see in fish that win the championship title in the smallest class. Whether that will be enough to shine when it doubles in length is, of course, still to be seen and depends not only on genetics but also on how the Koi is cared for. <\/p>\n As previously mentioned, we\u2019ve noticed that Filip is now also buying smaller Koi, and when asked, he explains that these purchases were made to compete in the League of Rising Scales. The Baby Champion<\/abbr> is a Major Award and still yields 75 points for the standings, multiplied by the show factor, which here in Bakkeveen is 0.9 with 40 barrels. <\/p>\n This Tategoi<\/abbr> Showa<\/abbr> is a truly beautiful fish in the making. The prize went to Ruben Heeringa, who won the Supreme Champion<\/abbr> title last year and has thus managed to maintain his position in the Major Rankings of the Koi Show Noorderlicht. The Showa<\/abbr> displays plenty of underlying sumi<\/abbr>, well-distributed, as well as a truly beautiful beni<\/abbr> pattern. If you were to imagine the sumi<\/abbr> gone, the Koi would not look out of place as a Kohaku<\/abbr> either. Arjan Bremer of AB Koi from Marum managed to acquire this fish from the renowned breeder Isa. <\/p>\n Still, all that black is what makes this fish special, even though there seems to be plenty of white left. One thing is clear: as this color develops and the fish grows, you\u2019ll have a hard time recognizing it. These are fish whose development you\u2019ll want to follow in the future, and who knows… <\/p>\n The Best Koi in Bakkeveen 2026 The Major Awards at the Koi Show Noorderlicht 2026 They came from far and wide to compete under the Northern Lights. In Bakkeveen, two giants faced off in the battle for the Grand Champion<\/abbr> title and the glory of the League of Rising Scales. It\u2019s amazing what the rankings<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":71989,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6404,6402],"tags":[8415,8414,7026,8204,6703,8416,6454,7039,8417,8250],"series":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-71999","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-image","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-grand-champion-en","8":"category-koi-show-news","9":"tag-abkoi","10":"tag-bakkeveen","11":"tag-filip-poppe-en","12":"tag-geert-schrijvers","13":"tag-koi-show-noorderlicht-en","14":"tag-koiwish","15":"tag-major-awards-en","16":"tag-siebe-van-tilburg-en","17":"tag-thekoipage","18":"tag-weskoi","19":"post_format-post-format-image"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/koiquestion.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/koiquestion.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/koiquestion.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koiquestion.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koiquestion.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71999"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/koiquestion.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71999\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":72011,"href":"https:\/\/koiquestion.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71999\/revisions\/72011"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koiquestion.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/koiquestion.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koiquestion.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koiquestion.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71999"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koiquestion.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=71999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Filip](\"https:\/\/koiquestion.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMGL0073-scaled.jpg\")
![\"John](\"https:\/\/koiquestion.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/722953392_27305713529079632_6827109317814088602_n.jpg\")
Grand Champion<\/abbr> A – Noorderlicht Koi Show 2026<\/h1>\n
Owner: Geert Schrijvers | Breeder: Dainichi Koi Farm<\/abbr> | Dealer: KoiWish BV<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/koiquestion.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-04-25-at-14.50.11.jpeg\")
<\/h1>\n________________________________________________<\/span><\/h1>\n
Grand Champion<\/abbr> B – Noorderlicht Koi Show 2026<\/h1>\n
Owner: Filip Poppe | Breeder: Marudo Koi Farm | Dealer: KoiWish BV<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/koiquestion.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-06-13-at-20.27.39.jpeg\")
Kinginrin<\/abbr> Chagoi<\/abbr> 103 cm, owned by Filip Poppe. This Koi was bred at the Marudo Koi Farm. This Koi is currently the epitome of the best that Non-Gosanke<\/abbr> has to offer in Europe. This season, the Koi has already won its third GC-B award. The photo was taken by Sem Jacobs, who has clearly made a name for himself in Koi photography after two years of training. <\/p>\n________________________________________________<\/span><\/h1>\n
Supreme Champion<\/abbr> – Noorderlicht Koi Show 2026<\/h1>\n
Owner: Geert Schrijvers | Breeder: Matsue | Handler: Narita Koi Farms | Agent: KOI Wish BV | Dealer: Mark’s Koi<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/koiquestion.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-06-15-at-16.22.57.jpeg\")
<\/h1>\n________________________________________________<\/span><\/h1>\n
Jumbo Champion – Noorderlicht Koi Show 2026<\/h1>\n
Owner: Geert Schrijvers | Breeder: Shinoda | Dealer: KoiWish BV<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/koiquestion.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-06-15-at-14.33.42.jpeg\")
<\/h1>\n________________________________________________<\/span><\/h1>\n
Mature Champion – Noorderlicht Koi Show 2026<\/h1>\n
Owner: Filip Poppe | Breeder: Sakai SFF | Dealer: KoiWish BV<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/koiquestion.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Mature-Champion-KSNL26-2-scaled.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n________________________________________________<\/span><\/h1>\n
Adult Champion – Noorderlicht Koi Show 2026<\/h1>\n
Owner: Martijn Jansema | Breeder: Matsue | Dealer: Weskoi<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/koiquestion.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Adult-Champion-KSNL26-scaled.jpeg\")
<\/h1>\nJunior Champion – Noorderlicht Koi Show 2026<\/h1>\n
Owner: Geert Schrijvers | Breeder: Matsue | Dealer: Weskoi<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/koiquestion.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Junior-Champion-KSNL26-2-2-scaled.jpeg\")
<\/h1>\n________________________________________________<\/span><\/h1>\n
Baby Champion<\/abbr> – Noorderlicht Koi Show 2026<\/h1>\n
Owner: Filip Poppe | Breeder: Matsue | Agent: KoiWish BV | Dealer: HeeschKoi<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/koiquestion.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Baby-Champion-KSNL26-2-scaled.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n________________________________________________<\/span><\/h1>\n
Tategoi<\/abbr> Champion – Noorderlicht Koi Show 2026<\/h1>\n
Owner: Ruben Heeringa | Breeder: Isa Koi Farm | Dealer: AB Koi Marum<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/koiquestion.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/PHOTO-2026-06-15-18-14-49.jpg\")
<\/h1>\n![\"Major](\"https:\/\/koiquestion.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Major-Awards-Koi-SHow-Noorderlicht-2026.jpg\")