After an outstanding first day of the Junior European Cup, on which Slovenian judokas won three medals, Slovenia also did not leave empty-handed on the second competition day.

The only medal of the day was secured by Zarja Mastnak in the up to 57 kg category. The 16-year-old Slovenian defeated her Serbian opponent by chokehold in the opening round, and then overcame a Croatian judoka with an arm lock in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Mastnak faced the top seed of the category, Italy’s Giulia Sorelli. In a very evenly matched contest, the decisive yuko was scored by the Slovenian at the beginning of the final minute with a foot technique, earning her a place in the final. There, she took on Poland’s Emilia Bielawska.

Mastnak was the more active competitor during regular time, which resulted in her opponent receiving two penalties. The bout went into golden score, where the Polish judoka executed a successful foot technique early on to secure the victory and the gold medal. With this result, Zarja Mastnak added a junior European Cup medal to her collection, having previously won medals at cadet and senior European Cups.

In the up to 57 kg category, Haya Veinhandl Obaid and Živa Soršak also competed. Both lost their opening matches but continued in the repechage, where they each won their first bout and then met in the repechage final. Their head-to-head contest was decided in golden score after three penalties, with Veinhandl Obaid emerging victorious, while Soršak finished the competition in seventh place. Haya then fought for the bronze medal against the aforementioned Italian judoka Sorelli, who scored the only point of the bout after just half a minute with a low hand technique and claimed the bronze medal.

Just below the podium, in fifth place, were Timotej Kos in the up to 90 kg category and Leon Marošek in the up to 100 kg category. Both athletes won three matches but were defeated in the quarterfinals and in the bronze medal bouts.

With this performance, Slovenia ranked behind only Russia, Serbia, and Poland in terms of the number of medals at the Sarajevo event, which featured 304 judokas from 21 countries.