The international competition season for Slovenian judokas began in Morocco, more precisely in Casablanca, where Timotej Kos and Gal Blažič competed on Friday at the Junior African Cup. In the round of 16 of the -60 kg category, Blažič was defeated by the eventual winner of the category from Estonia.

Kos began his campaign in the -90 kg category in the quarterfinals, where he defeated the home judoka with a submission. After more than five minutes of golden score in the semifinals, he overcame an Estonian opponent to advance to the final. The final contest against a judoka from Senegal was another long battle; however, after four minutes of golden score, Kos received his third penalty and finished the competition in second place.

Two days later, on Sunday, Kos and Blažič also competed at the Senior World Cup, held at the same venue in Casablanca. This time, Kos was eliminated in the first round by a British judoka, while Blažič first defeated a Moroccan opponent with a submission before losing in the round of 16 to a judoka from the United States.

In addition to them, four more Slovenian judokas competed in Morocco. In the -60 kg category, Blažič was joined by his club teammate David Štarkel. The experienced Slovenian judoka first defeated an athlete from France with two yukos and then overcame a Moroccan opponent with a submission. In the quarterfinals, Štarkel was narrowly defeated by a yuko by the eventual category winner from Russia, which sent the 29-year-old Slovenian into the repechage. He secured a place in the medal contest with a convincing win over a British judoka and then claimed bronze with a tactically well-executed victory over Blažič’s earlier opponent, American Joshua Yang.

Slovenia also had two representatives in the -100 kg category. Marko Vrhovnik was eliminated in the first round after a loss to a Portuguese judoka, while Gal Bertalanič Žižek, after receiving a first-round bye, defeated a home athlete in the round of 16 during golden score. Bertalanič was then beaten in the quarterfinals by Dutch judoka Axel Heeren and continued the competition in the repechage. There, he faced a Russian opponent who proved too strong, and the Maribor-born judoka finished the tournament in seventh place.

The only Slovenian female representative at the African Open in Casablanca was Jevgenija Gajić. After a first-round bye, the judoka from Koroška defeated a Russian opponent with a tomoe-nage technique in the round of 16 and then overcame an athlete from the Netherlands in the quarterfinals with a well-executed leg technique. In the semifinals, Gajić faced Tunisia’s Mariem Jmour and was defeated after two minutes of golden score. She then regrouped and, in the bronze medal contest, defeated an American judoka by ippon after just 45 seconds to secure third place.

Congratulations to everyone!