The first day of the European Judo Championships Juniors Tallinn 2024 brought a few surprises but certainly a lot of actions. Before we embark on finding out what happened, notably, Azerbaijan finished on top of the medal table followed by Italy and Serbia.
-48kg category – Aliyeva Secures First Gold for Azerbaijan
One of the upsets occurred the moment Zilan Ertem (TUR) eliminated top seed, cadet world champion 2023, four-times junior European cup medallist in 2024, Aitana Diaz Hernandez (ESP) with an excellent tactical game. The winning foray continued for Ertem all the way to the final, while on the lower half of the draw, Konul Aliyeva (AZE) worked her way into the final too. En route, she had to meet and defeat number two seed, Morgane Annis (FRA). Aliyeva did just that and more… In the final she concluded her day with yet another poised parade as she first stumbling over Ertem for a waza-ari via a sumi-gaeshi. A minute later a well-timed uchi-mata from Aliyeva was enough to end the day and charm herself with the title of junior European Champion 2024.
-60kg category – Viskov with The Final Say
As expected, Nizami Imranov (AZE) was unstoppable and showcased his confidence round by round all the way to the final where he met Nazar Viskov (UKR) who just as well marched through the lower half of the draw. Based on the preliminary rounds, the pair were evenly matched ahead of their final bout, where to begin with, Viskov was in control. A minute into the contest both athletes were trading opportunities one after the other, yet when the clock dropped to just under a minute, Viskov stunned Imranov for waza-ari via a ko-soto-gake counter action. The remaining time was spent Imranov chasing for a score which Viskov stopped at all costs allowing himself to be crowned yet with another European title.
-52kg category – Nisavic Takes Advantage of An Error
Top seed, Micaela Sciacovelli (ITA) began her day with a double win via her crafty tactical skills which landed her in the semi-final stage where she found her match when facing Kinga Klimczak (POL). A sutemi-waza error from Sciacovelli presented with an opportunity for Klimczak in ne-waza, a situation she took advantage of instantly. Simultaneously, Nikolina Nisavic (SRB) governed the lower half of the draw with not a single person conveying a score on her. Oddly, in the final it was Klimczak who got stuck underneath Nisavic from a tomoe-nage attempt and this time, the Serbian judoka took advantage of an error.
-66kg category – Accogli Doubles Junior Family Collection
Valerio Accogli (ITA) shined with his tactical skills first before showing his nage-komi prowess to advance and meet his team-mate, Alessio De Luca (ITA) in the final. The upset happened in the lower half of the draw when Stevan Maitin (SUI) overcome number two seed Jochem Van Harten (NED) in the round of 32. The Swiss judoka was able to maintain his excellent form until the semi-finals, where a defeat against De Luca meant he had to fight for bronze. Despite all his efforts, Maitin had to settle for fifth place finish.
Back to the final. With Accogli’s resume and De Luca’s performance throughout the preliminary rounds, the outcome of this contest was truly unpredictable. However, Accogli caught De Luca with a lower seoi-nage and landed his team-mate for waza-ari to claim victory. This is the second junior European gold medal for the Accogli family as Valerio’s brother, Daniel won the title in 2022.
-57kg category – Alizada Delivers Textbook Final
An early exit for top seed, Kinga Chmielewska (POL) took place when Adriana Saez Hevia (ESP) outclassed her opponent via a timely caught Okuri-eri-jime, forcing Chmielewska to tap out. This left the floor open for the rest of the group in Pool A, a situation that Nino Loladze (GEO) made the most of to advance to the final of her weight category. It was a similar story on the lower half of the draw as Fidan Alizada (AZE) upset number two seed Jevgenija Gajic (SLO). From there she thundered into to the final to meet Loladze, where she once again, delivered in style. With just under a minute left to go on the clock Alizada stunned the Georgian judoka with a textbook O-uchi-gari to claim her first ever European title with perfection.
For the full results and to reply all actions online join judotv.com. The second day of the event will begin at 10:00am local time.
Author: Szandra Szogedi