The Grind Pays Dividends

Italy and Hungary jumped on the bandwagon of gold medal-winning nations on day three of the Senior European Judo Championships 2025. Both victories were groundbreaking but for different reasons. Yet, before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s start with the first bronze medal contest of the afternoon…

-81kg category: “The New Rules Helped Me”

…which saw Matthias CASSE (BEL) go up against Antonio ESPOSITO (ITA) in a bout that went into golden score. As soon as that happened, Casse found a moment to secure an osae-komi-waza, claiming his fifth European medal. The second bronze medal won by Zelim TCKAEV (AZE), who made countless attempts to throw Petru PELIVAN (MDA) with uchi-mata. Finally, three minutes into golden score, he nailed the technique and landed Pelivan flat on his back.

The final brought together two strong competitors, Tato GRIGALASHVILI (GEO) and Timur ARBUZOV (IJF). The pair immediately engaged, pressuring each other with a series of attacks. Grigalashvili kept pushing forward and, despite almost being caught by a near-perfect counter from Arbuzov, he continued to press on. Arbuzov quickly adapted, anticipating the world champion’s repeated attempts, and threw him for a yuko score. With just five seconds left on the clock, Arbuzov picked up a second penalty, but it was too late for Grigalashvili to close the gap. Arbuzov, therefore, was left to respectfully celebrate his golden triumph.

Arbuzov: “This is my second Senior European Championships. Last time, I lost, and now, one and a half years later, I was sent again and this time I was able to win. It shows there’s still room for improvement. It’s part of the preparation for the World Championships coming up in June.

“In the final, I was aiming for redemption and wanted to overcome my last disappointment. What helped me was the support of my close ones my coach was here, and my family and friends were watching on TV and on their phones and to be honest, the new rules helped me too. Now you can throw from the ground, and I really like that. I would rate it a three-plus, maybe a four out of five. There were a lot of mistakes. I got two shidos, that’s something I can’t afford. So I know I can do better.”

-70kg category: A Decision Repeatedly Proven Right

In the first bronze medal contest between Lara CVJETKO (CRO) and Marie-Eve GAHIE (FRA), the pressure was on for both athletes, with no time left to improve pace as the contest was hectic from the start. With just a minute remaining, Cvjetko secured a yuko score thanks to an excellent te-waza control. This gave her the momentum to push forward, and despite Gahie’s yoko-guruma attempts, Cvjetko successfully executed her uchi-mata, securing her second European bronze medal.

In a contest where Tais PINA (POR) was the clear favourite on paper, Aleksandra ANDRIC (SRB) ranked #149 in the world as of the morning, repeatedly threatened Pina with her strong right-sided uchi-mata effort. The two battled intensely, eventually going into golden score with two shidos each. Andric kept pressing with her signature uchi-mata, and Pina, under pressure, was forced off the mat, receiving her final penalty handing Andric a stunning and well-earned bronze.

Andric: “Today was okay. In every competition, I give my best, and the gold medal is always the main goal but today, bronze is okay. I felt good, so I stayed calm and didn’t panic when I couldn’t get the throw. I always try to study my opponents, but I’m still new to competing at this elite level. Winning here in Podgorica at the European Cup in March definitely helped me today, everything feels familiar in this venue. Even though I wanted gold, I’m happy with the bronze medal. Not completely satisfied, but it’s a good start. Now, I will focus on doing more junior and senior events to keep building myself, step by step.”

The final between OZBAS Szofi (HUN) and Elisavet TELTSIDOU (GRE) was always destined to be a power showdown, as both are known for their big throws and share similar techniques. Teltsidou managed to lift Ozbas several times, but the Hungarian avoided being scored on and seized the opportunity to counter, an action that drew a standing ovation as the referee initially called Ippon.

However, the score was soon downgraded to waza-ari, and the contest continued. It didn’t take long before Ozbas gained momentum in ne-waza, and within seconds, she secured the hold and celebrated her European Championship title. She now officially holds a complete set of continental titles: cadet, junior, U23, and senior. Ozbas also remains undefeated in 2025, proving week after week that moving up a weight category was the right decision.

Ozbas: “This is insane. Today was emotionally really tough there were a lot of hard moments, but also some easier ones when I got into that flow feeling. What really helped was that I had put in the work. My body carried me through when I was struggling mentally when my mind couldn’t focus, my body took over. No matter if it is -63kg or now -70kg, I always have to stand in front of my opponent and give it my all, but I am definitely in the right environment now [-70kg], and although I didn’t expect success to come this quickly, I know I made the right decision.”

–90kg category: Consistency Pays Off

In the first bronze medal bout, Murad FATIYEV (AZE) capitalised on Alexis MATHIEU’s (FRA) own attack effectively to secure his spot on the podium. In the next contest, triple Olympian Ivaylo IVANOV (BUL) showcased his ne-waza skills against fellow triple Olympian and former World Champion Nemanja MAJDOV (SRB). It had been five years since Ivanov last stood on the European podium, and with today’s performance, he claimed his fourth continental medal.

The final featured Maxime-Gael NGAYAP HAMBOU (FRA) and Christian PARLATI (ITA). The Italian came out blazing, scoring yuko with an uchi-mata, which he cleverly transitioned into groundwork. Little did the French fighter expect that Parlati would use his legs to apply a devastating armlock on the Olympic bronze medallist securing not only the victory but also his first Senior European Championship title.

Parlati: “Winning my first European title is amazing because it came during a really tough period in my judo career. This title makes up for all the pain I went through, and I’m truly happy. I felt so confident today because I trained incredibly hard and stayed consistent throughout this time. My mind kept telling me, ‘You have no excuses you have to win.’ Going into the final, all I could think was that I wanted to win, and I am happy I made it happen. This title definitely brings a lot of responsibility, but I’m really proud of it. I don’t want to sound arrogant, but I know I deserve it.”

Author: Szandra Szogedi

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