The Slovenian cadet national team wrote history in Gran Canaria. After Ilariia Tsurkan’s gold medal and Zarja Mastnak’s silver medal, Neža Hladnik and Aleks Krivec also stepped onto the podium at the Cadet European Championships, both celebrating European titles, just like Ilariia.

Neža Hladnik Climbs from 85th Place in the World Ranking to the European Title

Neža began her competition in the under 70 kilogram category with a victory over a French judoka, defeating her by waza-ari and yuko. In the round of 16, she faced the category’s fourth seed, Viktorija Ragauskaite. Just before the halfway point of the contest, Neža scored the only point of the match with a foot technique and advanced to the quarter-finals. She then secured her place in the semi-finals after just over a minute, forcing her Polish opponent to submit with an arm lock.

Neža repeated the arm lock technique, although from a slightly different position, in the semi-final against the category’s top seed, Selina Woegerer. Although the Austrian took the lead with a yuko after a minute and a half, the Slovenian judoka remained composed. Just 20 seconds later, she claimed victory with an arm lock and booked her place in the final.

In the final, the 17-year-old Slovenian judoka faced Ukraine’s Diana Samoiliuk. In regular time, she looked for opportunities mainly in ne-waza, where she was considerably more active than her opponent, but she was unable to secure a hold-down or an arm lock. The Ukrainian threatened seriously just before the end of regular time, but Neža managed to turn onto her front in time.

The contest went into golden score, where Neža attacked several times with foot techniques. After one minute of extra time, she took advantage of her opponent’s weaker attack and countered her onto her side, which was enough for the decisive yuko and the title of Cadet European champion.

Aleks Krivec Adds European Title to an Outstanding Season

Aleks, who is ranked eighth in the world ranking list, arrived in Gran Canaria as the second seed in the under 81 kilogram category and was therefore free in the first round. In the second round, he first faced a Ukrainian judoka and forced him to submit with an arm lock after just over a minute. In the round of 16, he came up against a representative of Slovakia, but the young Slovenian judoka defeated him as well after just over a minute, this time with a hold-down.

The newly crowned Slovenian senior national champion ended his quarter-final even faster, throwing his Armenian opponent onto his back with a foot technique after only 15 seconds for ippon. In the semi-final, Aleks faced the category’s sixth seed, Azerbaijan’s Aykhan Hasanli.

In the opening minute, both judoka mainly looked for a dominant grip and did not take many risks, although Hasanli was the first to threaten with a foot technique near the end of the minute. Krivec managed to turn onto his front in time, then gradually began to take control of the contest and look for close-contact exchanges. After just over 30 seconds, his efforts paid off. Following Aleks’s attempt at a hip technique, his opponent tried to respond with a body technique, but the Slovenian judoka stepped over well, quickly established a hold-down, held it for 20 seconds and advanced to the grand final with his fourth ippon of the day.

Aleks’s opponent in the final was Italy’s Cristian Parisi, who had defeated the fourth seed from Azerbaijan in the semi-final. But Parisi, too, had no answer for the exceptional Slovenian judoka. Aleks quickly threatened with a foot technique, although he was not awarded a score for it. In the very next exchange, the two athletes entered close contact, which the Slovenian used better, throwing the Italian onto his back and securing the Cadet European title with another quick ippon.

Maks Čebulj Just Short of the Podium

Slovenia was also represented in the under 81 kilogram category by Maks Čebulj. The winner of this year’s Cadet European Cup in Rome was the fifth seed in the category and was free in the first round. In the second round, he faced the very opponent he had already defeated in the final in Rome, Estonia’s Joosep Toomel. Čebulj first took the lead with a waza-ari and a yuko from two foot techniques, then finished the job with a stranglehold.

In the round of 16, Maks defeated a German representative, throwing him for waza-ari after just over a minute and a half and holding on to the advantage until the end of the contest. His quarter-final opponent was the fourth seed, Yagub Mammadov. Both judoka attacked frequently in regular time, but neither managed to score, so the contest moved into golden score. Despite their fatigue, both continued to search for the decisive action, which the Azerbaijani judoka found with a body technique after more than three minutes of extra time.

Maks moved into the repechage, where he first defeated a judoka from Bosnia and Herzegovina by yuko, before quickly overcoming a representative of Spain to earn a place in the bronze medal contest. There he faced another Azerbaijani, the already mentioned Hasanli, who had lost his semi-final against Krivec. Hasanli took the lead with a yuko after just over a minute, then capitalised on Čebulj’s mistake in ne-waza and secured the bronze medal with a hold-down, while the Slovenian judoka had to settle for fifth place.

Val Berglez Kos and Gal Frangež Finish Seventh After Strong Performances

The success of the final individual day of the Cadet European Championships was completed by seventh-place finishes from Val Berglez Kos and Gal Frangež. Val defeated a representative of Israel in the first round of the under 90 kilogram category, before losing in the round of 16 to the category’s third seed from Austria. In the repechage, the 16-year-old from Ljubljana defeated a representative of Poland, before losing in the repechage final to a fighter from Latvia.

Gal, the eighth seed in the over 90 kilogram category, was free in the first round and then defeated a Romanian opponent in the round of 16. In the quarter-final, after a close contest, he had to concede defeat to the category’s top seed from Czechia and continued the competition in the repechage. Like Val, Gal was successful in the first round of the repechage, defeating a Swedish opponent, before losing in the repechage final to a Serbian judoka.

A Historic Championship for Slovenian Judo

The Slovenian cadet national team thus concluded the individual part of the European Championships with three gold medals, one silver medal, one fifth place and two seventh places, which placed the team in a historic first place in the overall standings.

Tomorrow, the Slovenian team will also compete in the mixed team event, where it will face Bulgaria in the first round. In the event of a victory, Slovenia will meet Georgia in the quarter-final.

Photo: EJU Media