The first day of Cadet European Judo Cup in Győr saw four of the lightest boys’ and three of the lightest girls’ weight categories in action. The over medal table spread the golden moments amongst six nations; two for Hungary and a piece to Italy, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Poland and Belgium.
The -66 kg category was particularly engaging today as EYOF bronze medallist, SZEGEDI Daniel (HUN) came out on top. On route to gold, this young judoka impressed the home crowd in the final. Szegedi had performed his signature hikoki nage throughout the day, which eventually gave him the gold medal. In addition, he implemented a tremendous ura nage in the quarter final when facing Yevhen HONCHARKO (UKR). His style is explosive and always interesting to watch, knowing that something big is bound to come, he is always searching for an opening and actively pursuing the win.
The final was bound to be difficult as Rostyslav BEREZHNYI (UKR) has a persistent attitude and took the contest to the very last second but couldn’t even the score against the Hungarian judoka, which left him to settle for the silver. Finally, it was time for Szegedi to celebrate his gold medal and the bliss of his consistency with his trainings. He furthermore acknowledged that he felt he was in the best mental state today to take on his opponent and come out victorious. Besides Szegedi, KOSZEGI Rebeka Rita (HUN) also won gold for Hungary in the -48 kg category.
Judoka
Author: Szandra Szogedi