All eyes were on Team France ahead of the mixed team event at the European Judo Championships Juniors Tallinn 2024. Having missed out on the title last year despite consecutive victories and a reputation for winning mixed team events, the question was whether they would be able to regain recognition among the juniors.
What was expected to be a quiet start to the day quickly turned into a thriller when the GBR vs SRB first-round bout ended 3-3, providing the first golden score of the day. The dice rolled for a rematch in the -57kg category between Chloe Link (GBR) and Nikolina Nisavic (SRB). The latter had won gold in the individual competition but Link had beaten the Serbian in their first meeting. Yet, Nisavic rose to the occasion and performed well under pressure to book her team’s place in the quarter-finals.
The entertainment continued when Serbia faced reigning junior mixed team champions Georgia in the quarter-finals. Serbia took a 2-0 lead. Tamaz Biganishvili (GEO) then scored a point for his team in the +90kg category. Nina Loladze (GEO) was next up against Kristina Nisavic (SRB) and they had a rather jagged fight with both scoring for waza-ari. With just over 30 seconds remaining, the Serbian judoka stunned Loladze with a ko-soto-gake action. The pressure was now on Georgia, with a must-win contest in the hands of Mate Beruashvili. The 19-year-old judoka handled the weight on his shoulders with ease and passed the baton to Nino Gulbani (GEO). Despite her best efforts, Aleksandra Andric (SRB) came out on top. It was then confirmed that Georgia would not be defending their title.
France were ready for the Serbians, who had been the stars of the day. Despite the high hopes, France ran out 4-1 winners, confirming that they are here for gold and nothing less. In the bottom half of the draw, both Team Azerbaijan and Team Netherlands put in a steady performance. In their semi-final meeting, -78kg judoka Irene Hesling was moved up a weight class for the day to face heavyweight Nigar Suleymanova (AZE). Due to the weight difference, accuracy and timing became the key elements for Hesling to stand a chance of securing the first point for the Dutch team. She did just that and after repeating accurate tai-sabaki and lowering herself at the right moment, she rolled Suleymanova in for ippon by a seoi-nage. Kanan Nasibov (AZE) responded quickly with a win in the +90kg contest. Both Fidan Alizada (AZE) and Vusal Galandarzade (AZE) added two more wins for their team. Nadia Swinkels (NED) then faced a must-win situation and did well to counter her opponent, landing straight into osea-komi-waza. This left Giel Dol (NED) to face Aslan Kotsoev (AZE), who not only scored a waza-ari but also forced Dol into three penalties. At this point the final line-up was set: France vs Azerbaijan.
The final block began with the two bronze medal matches taking place simultaneously. Both delivered a rather ecstatic ending. With Georgia leading 3-2 on mat two, the final category, +70kg, was called and it was time for Lizi Kvartskhava (GEO) to meet Irene Hesling (NED). The Dutch judoka wasted no time and stunned her opponent for waza-ari before ending the contest in ne-waza. It was time to roll the dice and the +70kg category was drawn. In no time Kvartskhava and Hesling were back in action. Although it took a little longer, the Dutch judoka secured another win over Kvartskhava and the first bronze medal for the Netherlands, here in Tallinn. A few minutes later the scoreboard showed a 3:3 draw on the joining mat where the -90kg category was recalled for action. Mihajlo Simin (SRB) quickly took control and secured the second bronze medal for Team Serbia.
The final began with a slight mismatch as Fares Mekhoukh (FRA) was pitted against heavyweight Kanan Nasibov (AZE) in an unfamiliar division. Nasibov dominated and doubled up on waza-ari scores, first with an uchi-mata and then a soto-makikomi action. Alya De Carvalho (FRA) had the upper hand against Fidan Alizada (AZE) in the -57kg bout. A score for France. Each team stole a point in the next two contests, leaving the score tied at 2-2 when Ivan Chernyshenko (FRA) and Aslan Kotsoev (AZE) took centre stage. It needed only 42 seconds for Kotsoev and his team to take the lead. Celia Cancan (FRA) responded with a 12 second win over Nigar Suleymanova (AZE). With the score now 3-3, all eyes turned to the big screen to see which category would be called to the mat to fight again. It was the -57kg category. France should have won. Not so fast… The deciding bout lasted over 8 minutes and by then the score was 2-2 in penalties. At 8:19 a soto-makikomi from Alizada gave Team Azerbaijan a standing ovation as they celebrated their junior European mixed team title. France almost pulled it off, but not quite. The celebrations ended with the singing of the Azerbaijani national anthem.
Author: Szandra Szogedi