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Current European Champion who first took a European title in Kazan, 2016, Vazha MARGVELASHVILI (GEO) is back and prepared to go the full haul once again. As one of the more senior athletes, his experience is vast but he set against a hoard of extreme talent and reaching the top of the podium will be no easy feat.
Two former European Champions follow on from Margvelashvili, Walide KHYAR (FRA) and Denis VIERU (MDA). The latter has been testing himself in the -73kg category as of recent but it seems coming home to -66kg is where he feels more confident.
In the last European Championships, big decisions were still to be made in regards to Olympic spots, and two athletes vying for that spot were Matteo PIRAS and Elios MANZI of Italy. The pair gave a warriors performance and of course had a different drive on that occasion, it will be interesting to see how they perform now that the pressure is off!
David GARCIA TORNE (ESP) is certainly one to watch and rivals the top eight, though sits just outside for this tournament, and behind him further is the 2024 silver medallist, Muhammed DEMIREL (TUR) who could cause serious upset in the opening rounds, as could PONGRACZ Bence (HUN), 2024 bronze medallist.
The highest ranked male athlete for the host nation can be found in this category, Jusuf NURKOVIC (MNE) seemed to have found his footing in more recent months, confirming his ability to climb the ranking lists with results in Tallinn and Sarajevo European Opens as well as a medal on home soil in the Senior European Cup.
This category has further rising stars in the midst with Nazar VISKOV (UKR) and Jakub KUROWSKI (POL). Though both are medalling on the Senior European Tour, claiming medals in Ljubljana and Warsaw Open events, the pair are still junior athletes, only just venturing from cadet level. Viskov can boast Junior and U23 European titles and Kurowski, Cadet and U23 European silver.
Given the vast variety in this category, it will be an exciting first day of judo in the Senior European Championships.
Judoka
Author: Thea Cowen