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In the first of the bronze medal matches of the Mixed Team European Championships 2025, Germany were taking on the fairytale story that was Belgium. In their mixed team debut, Belgium had stunned teams including France for a chance to take bronze.
In the end, the win went to Germany by means of a draw, selecting the +90kg men to go head to head for a second time. It was certainly a controversial contest for the spectators, with opinions split on the landing for the yuko score awarded to Erik ABRAMOV of Germany, and contested strongly by his opponent Toma NIKIFOROV, as well as the team of Belgium.
I’m feeling good, although it didn’t go exactly as I expected. I really wanted to win my first fight against Nikiforov, but I lost because of a mistake. Luckily, I had another chance to fight and earn a point for my team. When they were rolling the dice for the category, I actually hoped it would be me, I wanted to go back out there. It wasn’t easy today, it was my seventh or eighth fight between yesterday and today, and both my body and mind were exhausted. But after losing, I managed to reset and focus on the next match. It wasn’t perfect, I even tried a throw I usually don’t do, and it made things harder but I knew I had a job to finish. I don’t see myself as the key player; everyone on the team played their part. Yet, yes, there was pressure but the will to win was stronger than the fear.
So how did they get to the draw in the first place?
First up was Jano RUEBO (GER) whose fast thinking on the ground brought a submission from Zelemkhan BATCHAEV (BEL). Gabriella WILLEMS (BEL) evened things up against Friederike STOLZE (GER), first with a scoring tani otoshi before finishing in ne waza.
It was Matthias CASSE (BEL) who put Belgium in the lead, battling for six minutes against Fabian KANSY (GER) who was unable to match the pace of Casse and picked up three shidos. The next contest was again, a shido-decided match between Anna Monta OLEK (GER) and Gabrielle BOUVIER (BEL), the latter failing to stay ahead of her German opponent and European silver medallist.
The first head to head between Nikiforov and Abramov went in favour of the Belgian athlete, who attacked with ashi guruma, and anticipated a ura nage counter from Abramov, so switched back to score the ippon. It was the European Champion of the -57kg category, Seija BALLHAUS (GER) who managed to keep her team in the running for a medal by defeating Luna VERFAILLIE (BEL), scoring waza ari with o goshi.
Judoka
Author: Thea Cowen