Slovenia came close to a medal on the second day of the European Judo Championships in Tbilisi, as Kaja Kajzer fought for bronze in the women’s -63 kg category, while Leila Mazouzi impressed on her senior European debut with a seventh-place finish in the same division.

A two-time European silver medallist at -57 kg, Kajzer arrived in Tbilisi ranked 18th in the world, narrowly missing out on a seeded position. That left her with a demanding draw from the very start, opening her campaign against two-time reigning European champion Renata Zachová.

The Slovenian was not fazed by the challenge. Facing an opponent she has known since cadet level, Kajzer set the pace from the opening exchange and looked the more decisive of the two throughout. Despite several dangerous attacks, she was unable to score in regular time, sending the contest into golden score. There too she remained the more active judoka and, after nearly ten exhausting minutes, finally found the breakthrough. With a well-timed uchi-mata, she threw Zachová onto her side for yuko and advanced to the round of 16.

There, she faced fourth seed Laura Fazliu, who had received a first-round bye. Kajzer again started strongly, surprising her opponent with her very first attack to go ahead by yuko. Even with the lead, she kept pressing forward and remained the more active athlete throughout. After exactly three minutes, she sealed another impressive win with a successful follow-up action to book her place in the quarter-finals.

In the last eight, she met fifth seed Angelika Szymańska of Poland. The Polish judoka took the lead after a minute and a half with a foot technique for yuko, then added to her advantage with a counter. Kajzer pushed hard in the closing stages and forced her opponent into two penalties, but it was not enough to turn the match around. Just before the end, she was caught in an arm lock and narrowly missed out on a place in the semi-finals.

She responded well in the repechage, where she faced 2023 European silver medallist Gili Sharir. Once again, Kajzer took the lead with her very first attack and, despite visible pain, held on to that advantage until the end to secure a place in the bronze medal contest.

In the fight for what would have been her third European Championships medal and her first at -63 kg, Kajzer faced familiar Croatian judoka Iva Oberan. The opening phase was cautious, with both athletes clearly aware of each other’s strengths after meeting at competitions, training camps and practice sessions over the years. Both received early penalties for inactivity.

As the contest developed, Kajzer looked for openings with low attacks, while Oberan tried to impose a close-contact contest. After two and a half minutes, the Croatian established the grip she wanted and forced the Slovenian onto her bottom and elbow, which under the new rules was scored as yuko. Kajzer tried to respond immediately, but Oberan stopped the attack and followed with a counter for waza-ari. With 45 seconds remaining, the Slovenian had no option but to take risks and go all in, but she was unable to produce a comeback and had to settle for fifth place.

There was also a highly encouraging performance in the women’s -63 kg category from Leila Mazouzi, who showed remarkable maturity in her first appearance at the Senior European Championships. In the opening round, she defeated Israel’s Kerem Primo, scoring the decisive yuko after a minute and a half before seeing the match out with confidence.

She was even more impressive in the round of 16, where she defeated sixth seed Lubjana Piovesana – the British-born judoka representing Austria – by ippon with an excellent foot technique. The victory earned her a place in the quarter-finals and marked one of the biggest wins of her young career so far.

In the quarter-finals, Mazouzi faced 2022 World bronze medallist Manon Deketer of France. After an evenly matched opening, in which both athletes were battling for grip dominance, the French judoka managed to establish control midway through the contest and threw the Slovenian for ippon.

Mazouzi then moved into the repechage, where she took on Italy’s Carlotta Avanzato, bronze medallist at last year’s European Championships. The Italian took an early yuko lead, and although Leila pushed for an equaliser until the very end and also forced her opponent into a penalty, she was unable to complete the comeback. She therefore finished an excellent seventh on her senior European Championships debut.

Slovenia also had four more athletes in action on day two.

In the men’s -73 kg category, Martin Hojak was eliminated in the opening round after losing to Germany’s Jan Ruebo, who scored yuko midway through the contest and held on to the lead until the end.

A much brighter start came from Urh Ogrizek, who marked his senior European debut with a first-round win over Bulgaria’s Mark Hristov, bronze medallist at the 2022 European Championships. In a closely contested match, Ogrizek secured victory with just 17 seconds remaining, scoring yuko with an effective ko-uchi-makikomi.

His run ended in the second round against Ukraine’s Said-Magomed Khalidov, who quickly took control with a counter-attack and built an early lead. Ogrizek tried to find his rhythm afterwards, but three penalties ended his challenge.

In the women’s -57 kg category, Nika Tomc also made an impressive European debut. After a first-round bye, she defeated experienced Israeli judoka Inbal Shemesh in the round of 16. Despite facing an opponent ten years her senior, Tomc needed less than a minute and a half to settle the contest, throwing her rival cleanly onto her back for ippon.

She then faced fifth seed Marica Perišić and again delivered a strong performance, forcing a penalty through her activity against the 2023 European silver medallist. After regular time, that penalty was the only thing separating the two in an otherwise even contest, but in golden score the Serbian edged through with a counter for waza-ari.

Also competing at -57 kg was Jevgenija Gajić, another debutant at the individual Senior European Championships. After a first-round bye, she defeated Croatia’s Dora Bortas in her opening contest, imposing her own rhythm, taking the lead with yuko and extending it in the closing stages.

Her run ended in the round of 16 against experienced British judoka Acelya Toprak, who took an early lead and held on until the end, despite Gajić taking over the initiative later in the contest and forcing her opponent into two penalties.

On the third day of competition in Tbilisi, Slovenia will be represented by Nika Koren in the women’s -70 kg category and Nace Herkovič in the men’s -81 kg division. Slovenia’s participation at the championships will conclude on the final day with Metka Lobnik.