The 29-year-old Slovenian judoka David Štarkel finished in 7th place at the prestigious Paris Grand Slam, marking his best result at competitions of this level. He has competed twice at Grand Prix events so far, most recently last October in Lima, where he went one step further and secured 5th place.
The member of JK Impol from Slovenska Bistrica received a bye in the first round of the under 60 kg category. In the second round, he claimed his first victory of the tournament with a convincing ippon win over Paraguay’s Mateo Cabral.
In the round of 16, Štarkel confirmed his good form with a victory over Jorre Verstraeten, a three-time bronze medallist at senior European Championships and the eighth seed in the category. The Slovenian threw the Belgian twice, using a leg technique and a body technique, scoring yuko on both occasions.
In the quarterfinals, Štarkel faced young Kazakh judoka Aman Bakytzhan. After a scoreless regular time, the winner was decided in golden score. Although both fighters came close to scoring several times, Bakytzhan secured the decisive point after two minutes and 40 seconds of extra time, throwing the inventive Štarkel for waza-ari.
Štarkel continued the competition in the repechage, where he faced two-time senior World Championship bronze medallist Harim Lee. The contest between the Slovenian and the South Korean was evenly matched. Both athletes quickly received one penalty for non-combativity, with Lee receiving a second penalty for a false attack. Once again, the bout was decided in golden score, where Štarkel received his second penalty after 30 seconds. Lee then took full control of the fight, showing greater activity, and after nearly three minutes of extra time, the Slovenian received his third and decisive penalty.
Alongside Štarkel, Slovenia was also represented in Paris by his club teammate Gal Blažič, who also competed in the under 60 kg category. Blažič likewise received a bye in the first round but was defeated in the second round and eliminated from the competition by China’s Yulin Ma.
Fans will be able to cheer for David and Gal live next weekend at the home event, the Ljubljana European Open 2026, held at Stožice Arena.
