Notably, France has an extraordinary entry of 331 for the entire tournament, the second largest being Great Britain with 205. Day one saw popular French veteran players such as Yves SEMPE and Christophe LE GORBOLEC step on the tatami to impress the crowds, both taking home silver medals.
Travelling solo and getting himself mentally prepared for his contest was Anton CENA (KOS) competing in the -66kg M6 category. His speed and agility proved little match against his opponents today, as he wowed them with his timely ashi waza and ne waza, the latter sealing his gold medal contest against Rene MABIT (FRA).
CENA (KOS) is a very successful veteran judoka, just last year taking his third world title in the Police and Fire Games in Los Angeles, USA.
Since his gold medal accomplishment at the Veteran World Championship in Amsterdam 2015 he has gone from strength to strength, upholding his reputation. CENA walked away with another IJF Veteran World Champion title last year in Olbia, Italy.
This is not the Kosavar police sergeants’ first Veteran European Championship gold medal, but as CENA explains, each chance to compete is valuable,
“I achieved multiple European titles, one after the other, however ligament injuries forced me to avoid competition for a while. Now I am back and I have such a love for judo, it was great today”.
At home in Kosovo, he works as an instructor at the Kosovo Academy for Public Safety (KAPS) and is proud to represent his country and his flag. This passion for judo began as a child and has stuck with CENA throughout his life, passing it on to his four children.
His ambitions do not solely lie in competing, the gold medallist hopes to create a dojo for camps that will run throughout the summer and benefit the judo community. Judo is more than sport for our King of Kosovo.
Video Highights
Schedule Friday 15th June – M3, M4
09:30 Prelimiaries
16:00 Final Block
Day one of the Veteran European Championships 2018 got off to an explosive start! We saw six of the mens age categories take to the tatami today in the Emirates Arena in Glasgow. This included judoka between the ages of 50 and 79.
Notably, France has an extraordinary entry of 331 for the entire tournament, the second largest being Great Britain with 205. Day one saw popular French veteran players such as Yves SEMPE and Christophe LE GORBOLEC step on the tatami to impress the crowds, both taking home silver medals.
Travelling solo and getting himself mentally prepared for his contest was Anton CENA (KOS) competing in the -66kg M6 category. His speed and agility proved little match against his opponents today, as he wowed them with his timely ashi waza and ne waza, the latter sealing his gold medal contest against Rene MABIT (FRA).
CENA (KOS) is a very successful veteran judoka, just last year taking his third world title in the Police and Fire Games in Los Angeles, USA.
Since his gold medal accomplishment at the Veteran World Championship in Amsterdam 2015 he has gone from strength to strength, upholding his reputation. CENA walked away with another IJF Veteran World Champion title last year in Olbia, Italy.
This is not the Kosavar police sergeants’ first Veteran European Championship gold medal, but as CENA explains, each chance to compete is valuable,
“I achieved multiple European titles, one after the other, however ligament injuries forced me to avoid competition for a while. Now I am back and I have such a love for judo, it was great today”.
At home in Kosovo, he works as an instructor at the Kosovo Academy for Public Safety (KAPS) and is proud to represent his country and his flag. This passion for judo began as a child and has stuck with CENA throughout his life, passing it on to his four children.
His ambitions do not solely lie in competing, the gold medallist hopes to create a dojo for camps that will run throughout the summer and benefit the judo community. Judo is more than sport for our King of Kosovo.
Video Highights
Schedule Friday 15th June – M3, M4
09:30 Prelimiaries
16:00 Final Block