After a historic individual part of the European Cadet Championships, which Slovenia finished in first place in the overall medal standings, it was time for the mixed team competition. Slovenia defeated Bulgaria 4:3 in the round of 16, lost to Georgia 4:0 in the quarter-finals, and then beat Poland 4:3 in a dramatic repechage contest.

Slovenia opened the mixed team competition against Bulgaria, who had also impressed in the individual part of the championships. With two gold medals, two bronze medals and one seventh-place finish, Bulgaria ended the individual competition in third place overall.

Krivec Puts Slovenia in Front

The match between Bulgaria and Slovenia was opened by two newly crowned European champions: winner of the under 73 kilogram category Ivan Nikolchev and under 81 kilogram champion Aleks Krivec. The Slovenian judoka quickly took the fight to the ground, where he spent almost two minutes trying to finish the contest, but his opponent defended well. The contest then continued in standing position without a score until the end of regular time. At the start of golden score, Krivec once again attacked in groundwork, but Nikolchev successfully defended again.

After more than two minutes of extra time, Krivec managed to throw his opponent with a foot technique, but the referees ruled that the action had started outside the contest area and did not award a score. After three minutes of golden score, however, the young Slovenian judoka showed great resourcefulness and agility, countering the Bulgarian and throwing him onto his side for yuko and a 1:0 lead for Slovenia.

Bulgaria Quickly Equalises

Iva Forstner, who did not compete in the individual competition, was second to step onto the tatami for Slovenia. The 17-year-old Slovenian judoka, who usually competes in the under 63 kilogram category, faced Maria Cherkelieva, ninth in the over 70 kilogram category in the individual competition. After half a minute of fighting, the Bulgarian successfully used her advantage in weight and strength, threw Iva onto her back and levelled the score at 1:1.

Bulgaria Turn the Match Around as Valkov Secures the Lead

The next contest was in the over 81 kilogram category, where Slovenia sent Val Berglez Kos into action. The seventh-place finisher from the individual under 90 kilogram category faced Tsvetomir Valkov, winner of the over 90 kilogram category. After an even opening minute and a half, the Bulgarian surprised the Slovenian with a low technique and took the lead with a yuko. Berglez Kos tried to equalise until the end, but Valkov held on to his narrow advantage and put Bulgaria in front.

Mavrova Claims Third Consecutive Win for Bulgaria

The second women’s contest was held in the under 48 kilogram category, with Nastja Drakšič Koštomaj stepping onto the tatami. Against Sofia Mavrova, bronze medallist in the under 44 kilogram category, Nastja made a mistake after just over 20 seconds and landed on her back. Mavrova took advantage and secured Bulgaria’s third win with a hold-down.

Hontiuk Keeps Slovenia in Contention

In the fifth contest, Roman Hontiuk had to keep Slovenia’s hopes of progressing alive. Although he usually competes in the under 66 kilogram category, he made a sacrifice for the team and fought in the under 60 kilogram category. Roman faced individual bronze medallist Mahmoud Jaafar and, after a minute and a half, forced him to submit with an arm lock, reducing Slovenia’s deficit to 3:2.

Tsurkan Equalises in Quick Fashion

The final Slovenian woman to step onto the mat was reigning European champion Ilariia Tsurkan, who faced Andrea Stoeva. In less than half a minute, Ilariia successfully executed her favourite technique, threw Stoeva onto her back, scored ippon and levelled the match at 3:3.

Krivec Secures Slovenia’s Progress in Champion Style

With the score tied after six contests, a draw followed to determine which category would decide the match between Bulgaria and Slovenia. The under 81 kilogram category was drawn, which meant a repeat contest between European champions Nikolchev and Krivec. Krivec quickly took the fight to the ground once again, but this time had little trouble turning Nikolchev onto his back and holding him down to secure Slovenia’s decisive fourth win and a place in the quarter-finals.

In the quarter-finals, Slovenia faced Georgia, the third seeds in the team competition, who had received a bye in the round of 16.

Georgia Take an Early Lead

Iva Forstner was first to step onto the mat, this time in the over 63 kilogram category, where she faced Nino Dzagania. The Georgian quickly established a dominant grip and used a foot technique to throw the Slovenian onto her back for a quick 1:0 lead for Georgia.

Frangež Unable to Stop Heavyweight Bronze Medallist

The second contest was held in the over 81 kilogram category, where Gal Frangež, seventh in the individual over 90 kilogram category, was given his chance. He faced Ilia Zakutashvili, bronze medallist in the same category. Zakutashvili also quickly answered the question of who would win, throwing Gal for waza-ari after less than half a minute before finishing the contest with a hold-down.

Iashvili Dominates for Georgia’s Third Win

Trailing 2:0, Nastja Drakšič Koštomaj tried to bring Slovenia back into the match against Natali Iashvili. Although the young Slovenian initially stood her ground well, she too fell onto her back after just over a minute of fighting, giving Georgia a 3:0 lead.

Avaliani Secures Georgia’s Progress with a Little Luck

Roman Hontiuk was next up, this time against individual fifth-place finisher Giorgi Avaliani. After an even opening minute, the Slovenian judoka began to take the initiative and came close to scoring twice, but was not awarded a point. With a series of consecutive attacks, he forced the Georgian to receive his first penalty with around 20 seconds left in regular time. Just before the end of regular time, Roman came close to scoring again, and did so once more at the start of golden score when he threw his opponent, who managed to escape onto his stomach.

The Slovenian representative continued to be the more persistent and attacking judoka in extra time, but after two minutes of golden score, it was the Georgian who recorded the decisive point, countering Roman for yuko. Georgia advanced to the semi-finals with a 4:0 victory, while Slovenia dropped into the repechage.

Poland joined Slovenia in the repechage after losing to Ukraine in the quarter-finals and then defeating Germany in the first round of the repechage.

Kantaraia Makes His Weight Advantage Count

The repechage contest between Poland and Slovenia opened with the over 81 kilogram category. Slovenia was again represented by Val Berglez Kos, who faced heavyweight Aleksandre Kantaria. Although Val started the contest aggressively, Kantaria took advantage of one of his groundwork attempts, secured a hold-down and held him for 20 seconds to give Poland the first win.

Podymska Justifies Favourite Status

The women’s under 48 kilogram category was drawn next, which meant Nastja Drakšič Koštomaj was back in action. The young Slovenian judoka faced newly crowned European champion Nina Podymska. Although Nastja attacked well several times in the opening minute, Podymska showed at the start of the second minute why she is the European champion, first throwing Nastja for waza-ari before finishing the contest with a hold-down.

Hontiuk Brings Slovenia Back into the Match

The task of reducing the deficit once again fell to Roman Hontiuk, who faced Krystian Kurowski. Roman was again much more attacking than his opponent, who mostly looked for opportunities through counterattacks. Halfway through the contest, the young Slovenian judoka imposed a dominant grip and used a foot technique to throw his opponent onto his back for Slovenia’s first win in the match.

Tsurkan Wins Battle of European Champions

Next up was Slovenia’s European champion Ilariia Tsurkan, who faced another European champion, Jagoda Ciupek, winner of the under 57 kilogram category. The young Polish judoka resisted well during regular time and also threatened several times with low techniques. At the start of golden score, however, Ilariia capitalised on one of her opponent’s attacks and countered her onto her side for yuko, levelling the overall score at 2:2.

Krivec Continues to Dominate

After Ilariia, another European champion stepped onto the mat for Slovenia, Aleks Krivec, who had the chance to put Slovenia in front. He did just that, and quickly, throwing Wiktor Wolasewicz onto his back with a beautiful combination of foot techniques after only 25 seconds.

Watroba Levels the Score

The final Slovenian woman in action was Iva Forstner, who faced Dominika Watroba. Iva started the contest well and also threw her opponent with a low technique, but was not awarded a score. After a minute and a half, however, the Polish judoka also executed a low technique, threw the Slovenian onto her back and left no doubt about the winner.

Hontiuk the Hero for Slovenia

After six contests, the score was tied at 3:3, and once again the fate of the Slovenian cadets was decided by a draw for the decisive category. This time, the computer selected the under 60 kilogram category, meaning Kurowski and Hontiuk would decide who would advance to the bronze medal contest. Hontiuk started decisively and quickly took the initiative. After just over a minute, he showed excellent groundwork skills, turning his opponent onto his back in clever fashion and securing a hold-down. The contest ended early after the Pole submitted, allowing Roman and the rest of the Slovenian team to celebrate a place in the bronze medal contest.

Slovenia faced Austria in the bronze medal contest. The Austrians had reached the semi-finals after victories over Greece and Czechia, before losing to dominant France.

Austria Take the First Win

The bronze medal contest began in order from the lightest to the heaviest category, starting with the women’s under 48 kilogram category. Nastja Drakšič Koštomaj stepped onto the tatami for Slovenia for the fourth time that day and faced Laura-Sophie Kunyik. After one minute of fighting, the Austrian threw the Slovenian onto her back with a body technique, but the waza-ari was cancelled as both athletes were already in groundwork. Kunyik continued to take the initiative, and her attacks paid off halfway through the contest, when she took the fight to the ground and forced the Slovenian to submit with an arm lock.

Roman Levels the Score at 1:1

After Austria took the lead, Roman Hontiuk had the opportunity to equalise for Slovenia, this time against Sergios Samartzidis. The young Austrian was the more active athlete in the opening minute, which earned the Slovenian representative the first penalty. Roman then began looking for his opportunities mainly in groundwork. Samartzidis defended well, but with just over a minute remaining, Roman capitalised on a weak attack from his opponent and countered him for yuko. Although Samartzidis pushed hard for an equaliser, Hontiuk held on to his narrow lead until the end and levelled the match score at 1:1.

Ilariia Defeats Bronze Medallist Bleona

Third up was European champion Ilariia Tsurkan, who faced one of her main rivals in the category, Rami Bleona, bronze medallist from the individual competition. After an even opening to the contest, Ilariia slowly began to take control and, halfway through the fight, took the lead with waza-ari after a successful body technique. In the next exchange, Bleona also attempted a body technique, but Ilariia stopped the attack well and then moved into groundwork, where she secured an arm lock and forced her opponent to submit, giving Slovenia its first lead in the bronze medal contest.

Aleks Dominant Once Again

After Ilariia, Slovenia’s second European champion, Aleks Krivec, stepped onto the mat. He quickly took his opponent Stefan Stoegmann to the ground, then turned him over with a masterful transition and secured a hold-down. The Austrian ended the contest early by submission, giving Slovenia a 3:1 lead.

Hoellwart Brings Austria Back into the Match

With Slovenia leading 3:1, Iva Forstner had the first chance to seal the victory, but she faced a difficult contest against Michaela Hoellwart, bronze medallist from the individual over 70 kilogram category. The Austrian quickly showed her superiority and forced the Slovenian judoka to submit after only half a minute.

Scheiber Beats Berglez Kos with Plenty of Luck

The second chance to close out the match belonged to Val Berglez Kos, who was especially motivated as he faced Felix Scheiber, an opponent he had defeated in the individual competition. Since the two knew each other well, they both attacked from the very first second. After several solid attempts from both athletes, Berglez Kos had an opportunity in groundwork after one minute, but Scheiber escaped the hold-down at the last moment.

As the Slovenian representative was considerably more active, the Austrian judoka received the first penalty. Halfway through the contest, Val also managed to execute a throw, but the Austrian landed too much on his front for the referees to award a yuko. There was no score by the end of regular time, so the contest went into golden score. Val attacked first again, but his attack was not scored. Immediately afterwards, Scheiber took advantage of the position, caught Val in a hold-down and held him for five seconds to score the decisive yuko.

Ilariia Secures Bronze for Slovenia

The match score was tied at 3:3, which once again meant a draw to determine the decisive category. The under 63 kilogram category was drawn, so Tsurkan and Bleona remained on the tatami. This time, Ilariia wasted no time and scored yuko with her favourite technique in the very first attack. As the additional contest followed golden score rules, the bronze medal winner was decided immediately.

After making history in the individual part of the competition, Slovenia wrote another historic chapter in the team event, winning its first-ever team medal at the European Cadet Championships.

Photo: EJU Media