Slovenia was represented by Nika Koren and Nace Herkovič on the third day of competition at the European Judo Championships in Tbilisi, while Kaja Schuster was forced to withdraw shortly before the start of the event due to illness.

Herkovič was the first Slovenian in action, taking on Ukraine’s Vladyslav Kolobov in the opening round of the men’s -81 kg category. With the two judoka knowing each other well from training camps, the contest began cautiously, and both athletes were soon penalised for inactivity. Shortly afterwards, the Slovenian received a second penalty for illegally preventing the grip, which forced him to raise the intensity.

The 23-year-old then took control of the contest and, with persistent attacks, forced a second penalty for his Ukrainian opponent with just 20 seconds remaining in regular time. The match moved into golden score, where there were initially no serious attacks. Then, in close contact, Herkovič showed his strength and produced a beautifully executed ura-nage to throw Kolobov onto his back and secure his place in the second round.

There, he faced third seed Zelim Tckaev of Azerbaijan, bronze medallist at both last year’s European and World Championships. The experienced Azerbaijani quickly showed his class, taking the lead with an inventive technique for waza-ari after only 20 seconds. Although Herkovič then came forward more aggressively in search of a response, Tckaev settled the contest after just over a minute with another throw for waza-ari, ending the Slovenian’s campaign.

In the women’s -70 kg category, Nika Koren, bronze medallist at the 2023 Junior European Championships, was Slovenia’s only representative. The 22-year-old from Ljubljana faced Czech judoka Anna Skalska in the opening round, an opponent she has known since cadet level.

Koren made a confident start and, after just over a minute, threw her opponent onto the side, but the referees did not award a score due to a break in the action. As the Slovenian was the more active of the two, Skalska received a penalty midway through the contest. That prompted the Czech judoka to step up her attacks, and in her very next attempt she threw Koren onto her backside with a foot technique to score yuko.

After going behind, Nika increased the pace even further and, just before the final minute, threw her opponent onto the side once again. The action was initially scored as yuko, but after a video review the referees overturned the decision. The young Slovenian judoka pushed hard in the closing stages, attacking with an all-or-nothing approach in search of a comeback, but she was unable to score, allowing Skalska to advance to the second round.

On the final day of the European Championships in Tbilisi, Metka Lobnik will compete in the -78 kg category as the third seed, currently ranked sixth in the world.