Croatia is already celebrating the sixth edition of the Judo Festival this week as it runs from the 10th to the 21st of June. The initial two years took place in Türkiye before moving to the Plaza Laguna resort on the beautiful Istrian coastline.
This OTC attracts superstars from around the world and this year is no different, world and Olympic champions are donning the tatami in this OTC in preparation for upcoming grand slams and of course the IJF Masters event less than two months away which will be hosted by Europe, in Budapest.
Of the host country Croatia, double world champion and current bronze medallist, Barbara MATIC is proud to be welcoming the countless athletes to her home.
I think this is a very good training camp, now that half of the season is over. I think it is a good start for the next period, I just came from my holiday so I’m feeling good, there are a lot of good competitors so it’s good for the preparation for the Masters and Grand Prix Zagreb that we are hosting. The European Championships are also towards the end of the year now so we need to prepare for that. I hope everyone is enjoying being here, I like it because we have sea, sun and get to enjoy ourselves when we aren’t at training!
As for the men, we have the -100kg and +100kg Olympic champion, Lukas KRPALEK and kicking off the randori session today is a series of ne waza bouts, arguably Krpalek’s specialty which means he has plenty opponents coming to test him.
Judoka
Author: Thea Cowen